Wilson, in His Waning Days, Touts Legacy

Seeking to burnish his legacy as he prepares for unemployment, Gov. Pete Wilson on Tuesday lauded his administration’s handling of the state’s past economic crises and pointedly warned incoming Gov. Gray Davis to tread the same path.

He also urged the state’s perennially warring water interests to put aside their nettlesome differences and come to terms that ensure California has enough water to sustain its predicted growth.

In a luncheon speech to Town Hall Los Angeles, Wilson was alternately self-deprecating and somewhat boastful, but clearly intent on sharpening voter focus on him before he leaves office in four weeks with a second presidential bid looming in his thoughts.

“We’re no longer losing 1,000 jobs a day, as we were at the peak of that recession,” he said, referring to the economic collapse that coincided with his 1990 election as governor. “Today, we’re gaining more than 1,000 jobs a day.”

Ticking off the state’s economic improvements--1.6 million new jobs since the recession peaked, home prices and sales strong, household income up--Wilson described California as an “economic powerhouse.” But it is one, he cautioned, whose fate is tied to moves by the new governor and Legislature.

His recipe, familiar to Californians during his 32-year career in elective office: lower taxes, increased trade and planned physical improvements such as the Alameda Corridor, the express rail line between downtown and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach that will break ground Thursday.

He also tried to correct the state’s record on trade with Mexico, which Wilson has been accused of harming with his 1994 crusade against illegal immigration and his 1996 campaign against affirmative action.

“There’s been an assumption going around--initiated by rival capitals and perpetuated by some in the news media--that California’s demand to end the unfairness of illegal immigration has somehow shifted business from our state to Texas. Just not true,” he said.

Both the rate of increase of trade with Mexico and exports to Mexico in the last three years have been bigger in California than in Texas, Wilson said.

“And if anyone wants to debate that topic--well, I’ll have plenty of time on my hands in about a month or so to do so,” he added to chuckles from the audience.

The comments were something of a poke in the eye to Texas Gov. George W. Bush, a Republican who is considering a presidential bid. But Wilson said he was not crossing swords for that reason.

“We are responding to a little bit of false advertising by a friendly competitor,” he told reporters after his speech.

On the subject of water, one of the most intransigent problems faced by California’s governor, Wilson did not side with any of the combatants--agriculture, urban or environmental interests--but challenged all of them to come to an agreement.

While praising “progress” on water issues over the years, Wilson noted there has been little movement on the two most pressing issues, how the state lives on its future allocation of Colorado River water and the future of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

“Frankly, it’s going to require some maturity, a lot more than what’s been on display the past eight years,” he said. “Those who want to fight and re-fight old battles may win a skirmish or two, but in the end we either all win or all lose the water war. . . . I urge all parties to act for their own good and for the common good of California.”

Wilson barely mentioned incoming Gov. Davis in his speech, except to say that they had lunched last week. But, answering a question about future improvements to the state’s public schools system, he praised Davis’ calls for greater accountability on the part of school administrators and teachers.

“I am encouraged by what I have heard from the governor-elect,” Wilson said.