Report: Former Santa Cruz legislator John Laird named to the top natural resources post by Jerry Brown
By Lisa M. Krieger, Paul Rogers and Kurtis Alexander
San Jose Mercury
01/01/2011
Gov.-elect Jerry Brown is expected to appoint former Santa Cruz legislator John Laird head of the state Natural Resources Agency, sources said Saturday -- a role that will give the environmental advocate a powerful voice in oversight of logging, fishing, farming, parks and water policies.
The appointment, likely to be announced after Brown's swearing-in this week, suggests the governor-elect is hewing to his liberal principals, despite much talk about bipartisanship in the face of the state's budget disaster.
If named to the secretary's post, Laird faces an agenda that includes some of California's most contentious issues. One of the most immediate will be the decline of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a major link in the state's water supply; a state bond, designed to address the numerous pressures on the delta, is expected to go before voters in 2012.
Other problems include underfunding of the state park system and a shortage of wildlife wardens.
Brown adviser Steve Glazer would not confirm the news -- announced by the advocacy group Environment California and confirmed by several sources familiar with the selection -- saying that all cabinet appointments will be announced only after Brown takes office Monday.
Laird, 60, declined to comment.
His political life, which started on the Santa Cruz City Council three decades ago, has been marked by environmental advocacy. On the council, he led fights against offshore oil drilling and pushed for the designation of the Monterey Bay as a national marine sanctuary.
As a Democratic assemblyman in a district stretching from Morgan Hill to Big Sur, he co-authored California's landmark climate bill, AB 32; promoted water conservation; expanded the development of renewable energy and sustainable building standards; protected oil spill response funding; and established the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, a state agency designed to protect the mountain region.
He earned a score of 100 percent from the California League of Conservation Voters, which called him "hands-down one of the best legislators California has had this decade."
Laird also is considered an expert on state finances, having led the Assembly's powerful Budget Committee.
Only six months ago, he was denied a Central Coast Senate seat in a special election to replace Abel Maldonado; Laird lost the District 15 race to Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo. Since then, Laird has been teaching at UC Santa Cruz.
The position -- which pays about $175,000 a year -- requires confirmation from the state Senate, and San Jose State political science professor Larry Gerston predicted Laird will face resistance.
