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Indian gaming money sticking to Bustamante Pattiz's term was set to expire in March, but with the recall there was no certainty that Davis would still be governor then. So, just to be on the safe side, Davis nominated Pattiz to another slot that was already open. Enter Senate Rules Committee member Romero, who for years has been pushing for greater diversity on state commissions -- especially on the regents. For the most part, Romero said, her calls had been falling on deaf ears. Until last Monday, that is, when -- in a face-to-face meeting with Pattiz -- she bluntly told him she wasn't ready to sign off on his appointment and let it be known that she had seen enough "wealthy white men" get the nod. Suddenly, the embattled Davis was facing the prospect of not only a messy fight within his own party, but one with the very Latino base he's been working so hard to court to save his job. So just like that, it became "Let's Make a Deal" time. By the next morning, Romero was floating a compromise: Put college teacher and United Farm Workers co-founder Huerta in the six-month seat that Pattiz was vacating, and Romero would sign off on Pattiz for the 12-year seat. By late that afternoon, the usually slow-to-act governor's office had hopped on board -- with a spokesman calling Huerta "the best nominee for the job." And what does Romero say of her power play? "It's called leverage," Romero said matter-of-factly. "And that's what we do up here. From January until September -- look for the opening." And take it. WORKING THE CROWD: It was billed as a fund-raiser for Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante -- but it was former Gov. Jerry Brown who stole the show Monday in Oakland. The mayor, who showed up late (of course), got there just as Bustamante began making his stump speech and immediately began working the crowd himself. "He had a map showing his new apartment with this circle drawn around it, and then pages and pages with the names of parolees and people on probation who live in the area," said one attendee. Brown then went about showing the map to anyone and everyone in the crowd -- seemingly oblivious to Bustamante and his speech. "I guess it's part of Jerry's run for attorney general," the attendee quipped. You guessed right.
By the way, the fund-raiser -- which was hosted by City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, state Sen. Don Perata and developer Phil Tagami -- brought in about $70,000 for the Cruzinator.
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