Speaker paying price for image
By Edwin Garcia
MEDIANEWS SACRAMENTO BUREAU

Article Launched: 12/16/2007 03:05:39 AM PST

SACRAMENTO -- Fabian Nunez felt betrayed.
It was 1993 and the immigrant rights activist was fuming mad: A lawmaker for East Los Angeles, a Mexican-American Democrat, wanted to stop California from issuing driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants. Nunez wrote and called Assemblyman Louis Caldera demanding an explanation, but the legislator only confirmed his decision to co-author the measure.

"I couldn't believe what I was hearing," Nunez recalled.

Then, Nunez did something he never expected: He crossed the trench from political observer to political insider, eventually running for Assembly on a pro-immigrant platform, in Caldera's old district.

Today, the 40-year-old charismatic, ambitious and liberal legislator is Speaker of the California Assembly, arguably the second most powerful politician in Sacramento and most powerful Latino politician in the state. His resume is packed with achievements from 2006 that led to national and international fame for laws to reduce global warming, raise the minimum wage and make prescription drugs more affordable.

But as he completes his fourth year as leader of the 80-member house, Nunez has hit an unexpected skid that could threaten his political future.

The Tijuana-reared son of a gardener and maid is in political turmoil over his extravagant spending on first-class travel, fine wine, and purchases at high-priced retailers, such as a Louis Vuitton store in Paris, surprising revelations about someone who has defined himself as a champion of the working class.

Nunez insists the campaign expenses were legal, ethical and directly related to invitations from dignitaries for whom he bought gifts. His foes who disagree are awaiting the results of an investigation by the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

But some say the flap only exposes deeper questions about Nunez that persist at the Capitol and in his district: Has this once-tireless advocate for the working class -- who as a child was so poor he borrowed his sisters' clothes, who dropped out of college to become a security guard to support his pregnant girlfriend -- abandoned his core causes and humble roots for political power and a lavish lifestyle?

"As an overall picture of what's going on," said Juan Jose Gutierrez, a Los Angeles immigrant rights activist who hired Nunez in the late 1980s and has closely followed his career, "a lot of us scratch our heads and say, well, what happened here?"

In many ways what happened is a familiar story about the clash of idealism and political reality. How does one remain loyal to old constituents and causes in the face of political ambition that dictates serving broader interests? And how does one retain the appearance of humility while being required to move effectively and effortlessly in a world of deep-pocketed movers and shakers?

Nunez was born in a San Diego county hospital -- the 10th of 12 children raised by his parents, Pedro and Soledad Nunez, who lived in a wood-framed home in Tijuana and commuted to jobs across the border.

The family got by with barely enough clothes; other families lived on a hill in cardboard huts, which led Nunez at a young age to question economic disparities.

"This is where my political views were shaped, while I was here living in this tiny two-bedroom home," Nunez said on a recent visit to his old Buena Vista neighborhood. "This is where I began to develop my core, who I am as a person, my beliefs, and I think a sense of mission, too."

Labor unions and immigration rights groups vaulted Nunez into office in late 2002.

His first piece of legislation sought to require state agencies to accept identification cards issued by foreign consulates as official ID, commonly used by undocumented immigrants. He also co-authored a bill with his political mentor, Sen. Gil Cedillo, to restore licenses to immigrants.

Both measures failed -- his idealism rebuffed by political reality.

By the end of that first year, however, Nunez had become popular among his peers and emerged as the leading candidate for speaker at the young age of 37. Immigrant rights groups had renewed hope.

But that's when, advocates say, they began to observe a political transformation. Nunez now seemed less interested in old causes that can define a local lawmaker and more interested in the broader policies necessary to be an effective Assembly Speaker.

"It's not surprising me to me that the pro-immigration activists are disappointed," said University of Southern California analyst Sherry Bebitch Jeffe. "The measure of the leadership is not how broad the legislation is, but whether or not something moves toward the direction where the leader and the activists want it to be pointed."

As part of his political evolution, Nunez in 2004 ditched his oval-frame glasses for eye surgery, and began to favor Italian Ermenegildo Zegna pin-stripped suits.

He also spent much of 2005 publicly attacking Gov. Arnold's Schwarzenegger's anti-labor union reform agenda, while at the same time, oddly, developing a friendly relationship with him.

Schwarzenegger would invite Nunez for cigars in the Republican governor's Capitol smoking tent. Nunez took the governor to a favorite restaurant in East Los Angeles. Schwarzenegger invited Nunez to watch movies at his Brentwood estate.

After the initiatives were defeated, Schwarzenegger adopted traditionally Democratic measures, much to the dismay of his key supporters.

Their tight relationship has empowered Nunez and made him more effective. But it also has further distanced him from immigrant supporters who wonder if the governor has replaced Cedillo as the speaker's mentor.

Nunez never re-introduced the identification card measure that was a highlight of his first year. He never again signed on as co-author to Cedillo's numerous attempts at passing the driver's license law.

Nunez now finds himself in a precarious position. In less than two months, Californians will decide his political future with their vote on Proposition 93, which seeks to limit the time legislators can remain in office, but also allows incumbents such as Nunez to serve an additional six years.

The initiative's opponents call Nunez the poster child of the measure, using words such as "imperialistic." Nunez says he doesn't know what his future will be if the Feb. 5 term limits initiative fails. But he concedes that his image has taken a hit.

Over the past two months he canceled out-of-country trips and is supportive of the state's election watchdog's recent proposal to force legislators to disclose expenses more specifically, which seems to stem directly from Nunez's lavish spending.

"I have to have a higher standard for myself now," he said.



FABIAN NUNEZ


BORN: Dec. 27, 1966, in San Diego

AGE: 40

POLITICAL PARTY: DEMOCRAT

POLITICAL HISTORY: Elected to the state Assembly in 2002, 2004 and 2006 to represent downtown Los Angeles and surrounding neighborhoods, part of unincorporated East Los Angeles and cities of Huntington Park, Maywood and Vernon. Sworn-in as Speaker of the Assembly on Feb. 9, 2004. He is one of 30 national co-chairs of Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign for president.

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS: Went into office promoting immigrant rights measures, and after he became speaker took on major legislation such as AB 32, the global warming bill.

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree in political science, education and psychology, 1997, Pitzer College in Claremont.

FAMILY: Married to Maria Robles, a registered nurse and health-care consultant. Has three children: Esteban, 19; Teresa, 16; and Carlos, 7.

ANNUAL SALARY: $133,639 (plus per diem)

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