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Governor appoints 2 UC regents, 8 more named to CSU Board of Trustees
by Carrie Sturrock July 3, 2004

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed two prominent businessmen, one of whom is his private fiscal adviser, to the prestigious University of California Board of Regents.

The move, announced Friday, made it clear that labor and civil rights leader Dolores Huerta would not be reappointed.

Paul Wachter, 47, of Los Angeles, has managed Schwarzenegger business affairs for more than a decade. He will fill a position vacated by attorney John Davies, who was appointed by former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson.

Fredrick Ruiz, 60, of Parlier (Fresno County) and founder of Ruiz Foods, will fill the post vacated by Huerta, who was appointed by former Gov. Gray Davis last fall to finish the remainder of a 12-year term that expired March 1.

Both of Schwarzenegger's appointments need state Senate confirmation.

"As successful members of the business community, Paul and Fred understand the critical role of higher education in the future of our state, and they will bring tremendous experience to the University of California regents," the governor said in a statement. "Both share in my commitment to strengthening California's university system and continuing our long tradition of providing affordable, quality education to students in this state."

Schwarzenegger also made eight appointments to the California State University Board of Trustees.

Davis had been roundly criticized for appointing wealthy and generous campaign contributors to the UC Board of Regents, which is generally considered a political plum. Of Schwarzenegger's 10 appointments to UC and CSU, only one, Wachter, gave to his gubernatorial campaign, making $21,200 in nonmonetary contributions, according to the secretary of state's Web site.

The 26-member UC board has 18 seats appointed by the governor for 12-year terms. Nine were appointed by Davis, seven by Wilson and now two by Schwarzenegger.

Ruiz, a registered Republican, fills a position held for just six months by Huerta, who along with Cesar Chavez founded the United Farm Workers Union. Shortly before her term expired, she had asked the governor in writing to reappoint her.

"I think I did add something to the regents while I was there because I could be a spokeswoman for labor and Latinos and women, but mostly the underserved and underrepresented," she said Friday. "I would have liked the governor to . . . have appointed another labor person and another person of color who would represent the people who don't have representation."

State Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, had also lobbied for Huerta's reappointment.

"I'm deeply saddened and disappointed, and I think this is a letdown for the students," she said. "She was a champion for them."

Ruiz was not available for comment. Ruiz Foods is a leading manufacturer of frozen Mexican food meals and a large employer in Tulare County. Ruiz is an adviser and founding member of the Institute for Family Business at Fresno State University and serves on the UC Merced Foundation board. He also is a member of the boards of directors of the Hispanic College Fund, California Chamber of Commerce, the McClatchy Company and Valley CAN "Clean Air Now." He attended the College of the Sequoias community college in Visalia.

Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, a fellow Central Valley resident, hailed Ruiz's appointment as "a much-needed voice to speak on behalf of this underrepresented region of California."

Wachter has been friends with Schwarzenegger for nearly 20 years, and his firm, Main Street Advisors in Santa Monica, handles the governor's financial affairs. Previously, Wachter managed Schroder Wertheim & Co.'s West Coast investment banking effort. He serves on the board of governors of the Southern California Special Olympics and as chair of the Austrian Holocaust Reparations Committee, according to the governor's office. Wachter, who is registered decline-to-state, graduated from Columbia Law School and Wharton business school at the University of Pennsylvania.

The eight members appointed to the 25-member CSU Board of Trustees, seven of whom still need state Senate confirmation, include Democrat Jeffrey Bleich, a partner in the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olsen LLP in San Francisco; Democrat Herbert Carter, past president of Cal State Dominguez Hills; Republican Carol Chandler, a partner in Chandler Farms and instructor at Fresno City College; Democrat Moctesuma Esparza, executive producer of Esparza/Katz Productions; Republican George Gowgani, past associate dean of the College of Agriculture at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; Republican Raymond Holdsworth, past president of the California Chamber of Commerce; and Democrat Melinda Guzman-Moore, a partner in the law firm Goldsberry Freeman Guzman & Ditora.

Corey Jackson, a junior at Cal State San Bernardino, has been appointed student trustee.

Originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle.

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