Merksamer Quits Deukmejian Cabinet to Resume Private Law

SACRAMENTO —  Steven A. Merksamer, longtime political aide and confidant to Gov. George Deukmejian, announced Thursday that he will resign his post as the Republican governor’s chief of staff May 1 to go into private law practice.

Deukmejian immediately named Michael R. Frost, 47, his legislative secretary and a 22-year veteran of state government, to replace Merksamer in the top cabinet-level post.

Merksamer, among the governor’s closest advisers who was a key strategist in Deukmejian’s first successful gubernatorial campaign in 1982, said in announcing his resignation that he still expected to play an active role in Deukmejian’s future endeavors.

Labeling the chief of staff’s post as “the best job in state government,” Merksamer, 39, said he had repeatedly postponed returning to the practice of law and “now that time has come. . . . I take great personal satisfaction in having assisted the governor in fulfilling all the major goals of his first term.”

A native of Sacramento, Merksamer, who with his family owns a chain of jewelry stores, said his decision to resign the job, which pays $87,552 yearly, also was driven by “a desire to focus on long-neglected family business matters.”

Widely regarded as a savvy manager and political tactician, Merksamer nonetheless had his critics, some of whom accused him of sometimes isolating the governor from some of his top appointees.

Merksamer’s announcement follows by less than two months the resignation of another top Deukmejian political adviser, Larry Thomas, the governor’s press secretary and director of his landslide victory last year over Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. Thomas left to become press secretary and political strategist to Vice President George Bush.

The resignations coincide with Deukmejian’s new, higher political profile, signaled by his temporary flirtation with the idea of staging a favorite-son presidential bid next year. He abandoned that course last month, deciding instead to form a citizens’ group that could become a steering committee for a third term as governor or a 1992 presidential bid.

Merksamer was among those who pushed Deukmejian to keep an open mind about running as a favorite son. And he said in an interview Thursday that he will be “actively involved” in any committee formed to advise the governor on future political moves.

“I’m not disengaging from the political future of George Deukmejian,” Merksamer said. Despite his pending resignation, Merksamer is scheduled to accompany the governor on his second overseas trip this year, a 12-day trade mission to London, Brussels and Paris beginning next week.

Frost, the new gubernatorial chief of staff, has never been thought of as a Deukmejian insider or key political strategist. Although he has been the governor’s legislative lobbyist since 1984, much of his 22 years in state government has been devoted to personnel management, including serving as secretary to the state Personnel Board.

He also spent eight years as chief of staff to former Senate Republican floor leader Fred Marler Jr.

Deukmejian, in a prepared statement, praised Frost as uniquely qualified for the top post, saying “Mike has my total confidence.”

The governor also expressed “deepest regret” over Merksamer’s resignation, calling him “an indispensable member of my staff.”

Merksamer said he has had several offers from law firms but will not make a final decision until “after I take some time off.”