Governor Names Stirling to S.D. County Judgeship

SACRAMENTO —  In a move that stunned local and state politicians, Gov. George Deukmejian on Tuesday announced that he has appointed freshman Sen. Larry Stirling (R-San Diego) to a new municipal judgeship in San Diego County.

Stirling--an outspoken law-and-order legislator who just last week caused a stir when he jokingly referred to the citizens lobby group Common Cause as “communist” during floor debate--said Tuesday that a combination of personal and professional considerations prompted him to ask the governor two months ago to “activate” his longstanding request for a judicial appointment.

“It was a whole series of personal, political factors combined at one time that led me to request consideration,” said Stirling, whose salary will more than double from $40,800 to $82,000 annually when he dons the judicial robe.

As it happens, Stirling will also be able to take advantage of an enhanced package of insurance and retirement benefits for San Diego County judges made possible through legislation he sponsored this year. The bill was signed into law by Deukmejian last week.

Aside from the considerable salary increase, Stirling said he decided to seek the appointment because he has tired of the travel and 14-hour days he put in as a state officeholder.

A spokesman for Senate President Pro Tempore David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) said, “It’s certainly a surprise, but we wish him well.”

Mayor Maureen O’Connor, who was in Sacramento on Tuesday for a private meeting with Deukmejian, said: “I have to tell you, Larry Stirling has been a big advocate for the city of San Diego, whether it has been helping us with the drug problem or more particularly the Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric fight. He’s been there for us.

“If this is what Larry wants, congratulations to Larry.”

Within minutes of the announcement, potential successors began weighing their chances of taking the 39th District in a special election. The district includes the San Diego neighborhoods of Point Loma, Tierrasanta and Linda Vista, as well as Poway, Ramona, Jamul, Jacumba, Boulevard and Campo.

Bentley Seen as Favorite

Stirling predicted the odds-on favorite to be Assemblywoman Carol Bentley (R-El Cajon), herself just elected to the Legislature in Stirling’s former Assembly district last November. In an interview, Bentley called running for the seat a “natural step.”

“I know that my goal always was to move up to the Senate, and I was sure that that was many years into the future,” said Bentley, who previously worked in the 39th District as a longtime aide to Sen. Jim Ellis, Stirling’s predecessor.

Another politician mulling a run at the seat is Assemblywoman Lucy Killea (D-San Diego), who conceded that the district’s 49%-38% Republican registration edge would be an obstacle.

A handful of others--among them San Diego City Council members Gloria McColl and Ed Struiksma and Assemblyman Steve Peace (D-Chula Vista)--said they are not interested in the impending contest.

Struiksma, in fact, “unequivocally” ruled out a run for either Stirling’s or Bentley’s seat, noting that he would have to move his residence to be eligible in either district.

Councilwoman Judy McCarty, who, like Struiksma, faced reelection Tuesday, said she is not interested in running for Stirling’s Senate seat and is not considering a candidacy for Bentley’s seat “at this time” if the freshman assemblywoman moves into the Senate.

First Since 1982

Stirling, 47, becomes the first senator to leave the upper chamber for a seat on the bench since 1982, when then-Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Democrat John Holmdahl of Oakland to a state appellate court in San Francisco.

A municipal judge, in contrast, is on the bottom rung of the judicial system, but Stirling said Tuesday that he isn’t bothered by the perception that taking the job would be a loss of power and prestige.

“The prestige, I’m sure, is important to somebody, (but) that isn’t the determining factor for me,” he said. “It is being able to contribute and being able to satisfy the obligations to the public, my family and myself. The time came, and my subconscious said it is time to move on.”

Stirling, who received his law degree from Western State University in 1974, served from 1977 to 1980 on the San Diego City Council before being elected to the Assembly in 1980. He served eight years in the lower house before winning election to the Senate in 1988 to replace Ellis.

During the outspoken legislator’s tenure in Sacramento, he has been known as a law-and-order advocate who chaired the powerful Assembly Public Safety Committee with an abrupt manner and an iron fist.

His office churned out press releases, and he was never shy about jumping into a local controversy, often using it to pepper state agencies for investigations or explanations on issues ranging from air pollution to compensation for judges.

Move to Oust Landon

Most recently, Stirling was behind the move to oust San Diego attorney Alex Landon as director of Community Defenders Inc., a nonprofit group that was hired by the county to provide legal services to the poor. Stirling’s insistence on publicly dwelling on allegations that Landon had a hand in a 1972 prison break brought charges that he was engaged in character assassination and “McCarthyism.”

While in the Assembly, Stirling sponsored legislation that established an ocean fishery in San Diego to replenish the declining white sea bass population in the Pacific. He also wrote legislation designed to protect government whistle-blowers, who expose misdeeds or inefficiency, from reprisals by their bosses.

Last year, Stirling took issue with a plan by the county to pay nearly $6,200 a year in retirement contributions on behalf of each San Diego municipal judge. Stirling said the plan was unconstitutional because it was up to the state to determine judges’ salaries and benefits.

That dispute prompted Stirling this year to write a Senate bill that could fatten the insurance and retirement benefits for all San Diego County judges, giving them the same compensation package as enjoyed by Chief Administrative Officer Norman Hickey. The bill, which allows the county to make the retirement contributions, was signed into law by Deukmejian on Sept. 13.

Most recently, Stirling caused a stir on the Senate floor when he railed against California Common Cause for supporting ethics reforms for politicians. He chided his colleagues for not standing up to the reformers and facetiously referred to the citizen group as communist.

Those comments underscored the fact that Stirling had appeared to become more testy and critical during Senate debate over the past several months. His change in mood coincided with his decision to ask Deukmejian to “activate” his request for a judicial appointment.

A source in the executive branch said Tuesday that Stirling applied to be a judge five years ago. Stirling said he sent an application in several years ago and was approved, but asked Deukmejian to keep the new job on hold because of “political exigencies” at the time.

He decided to take the job this time around, he said. “There were probably two dozen personal considerations weighing on both sides of the issue, but the primary consideration comes with the opportunity to serve in a different career,” he said.

Stirling said he expects to resign in three weeks. At that point, Deukmejian has two weeks in which to call a general election.

Times staff writers Barry M. Horstman and Leonard Bernstein contributed to this report.