SACRAMENTO — For the third time since taking office last fall, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ousted a high-ranking state consumer regulator, stirring complaints among advocates that he is stripping a respected consumer protection department of its strongest voices.
Activists are mobilizing to block Senate confirmation of the governor's pick to fill the top job at the Consumer Affairs department -- former Assemblywoman Charlene Zettel, who scored poorly on a consumer advocacy group's rating of lawmakers.
"You wonder if there's not an agenda here of pleasing business at the expense of the public," said Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, who is taking part in the effort to oppose Zettel's confirmation.
Lynn Morris lost her job as chief of the state Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation on April 30, and no permanent replacement has been named. She helped craft a first-in-the-nation standard to make mattresses less likely to catch fire. When she was dismissed, she was preparing her staff to enforce the new regulations, due to take effect Jan. 1.
Earlier in his term, the governor dumped Kathleen Hamilton as head of the Department of Consumer Affairs and one of her deputies, Patrick Dorais, chief of the bureau that regulates the auto repair industry.
Hamilton and Dorais had played a role in the department's high-profile investigation of Irvine-based Caliber Collision Centers. The department submitted its findings to state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, who sued Caliber for $50 million last year, charging that it had defrauded customers by billing for services and parts that were not provided. The suit is pending.
Schwarzenegger aides said that the dismissals were part of an effort to fill the agency with the governor's own team and that the state intended to enforce consumer protection laws aggressively.
The administration "is committed to being a strong advocate for consumers," said Fred Aguiar, the Schwarzenegger Cabinet secretary who oversees the state's consumer protection efforts.
Said Zettel: "Our mission is the same. We want to continue to be a guardian of the consumers' health, safety and economic well-being. We're looking forward to continuing to implement the will of the Legislature in all existing laws."
Morris had worked in various state consumer protection posts for much of the last 26 years -- under Republican and Democratic governors -- and was seen by some as a seasoned and dispassionate defender of consumer rights.
