This is for the folks who were trying to tell us to vote for Davis in order to save what was left of the environment from that mean ol Dan Lungren who was gaining in the polls over that great friend of the environment Gray Davis:

California Governor-Elect Gray Davis, after a campaign stressing his commitment to environmental protection, has appointed former Maxxam executive Barry Munitz to lead his administration's transition team. During his stint with Charles Hurwitz and Co., Munitz also served as a director of United Savings Association of Texas, the savings and loan that is the subject of the federal government's current lawsuit against Hurwitz. Specifically, Munitz was named in the civil suit brought by the Office of Thrift Supervision filed in U.S. District Court in December of 1996 accusing Munitz, Hurwitz, and other executives of self-dealing and causing the thrift's failure in 1988. In 1991, Munitz was named chancellor of the California State University system, where students gave him the nickname "Chainsaw Chancellor." It is unclear how much actual impact this "figurehead" position will have on the literally thousands of appointments (about 400 environment-related) the new governor will make. Davis is stressing Munitz' background in academia and reputation as an educator. But the choice certainly doesn't inspire confidence in Davis' proclaimed support for forest protection.

RICHARD JOHNSON, MENDOCINO COUNTRY Publications, Green Party of Mendocino County, Alliance for Human Rights, P.O. Box 533, Talmage, CA 95481 * (707) 459-5490 ext 501 fax 468-1009. Entertainment calendar information: www.pacific.net/~mce