Alice A Huffman

Alice Huffman, a retired teachers union lobbyist and political advisor to former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown Jr., was appointed to the California State University Board of Trustees on Monday by Gov. Gray Davis. Under Huffman, the California Teachers Assn., one of the state's biggest contributors to Democrats' campaigns, enjoyed extraordinary influence in the Legislature in the 1990s and had direct access to Brown, now San Francisco mayor.

An effort by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Brown to woo African American voters has touched off a controversy within the state's largest teachers union that threatens to dislodge one of its highest-ranking black officials. Leaders of the California Teachers Assn. are investigating whether Alice Huffman, the union's political director, violated the CTA's internal conflict-of-interest code.

Alice Huffman, political director of the state's largest teachers union, has agreed to cut her ties with a political consulting firm she owns, according to an announcement made late Friday by the California Teachers Assn. Huffman has been at the center of a conflict-of-interest controversy within the group since it was revealed last month that a political action committee she helped form had accepted $175,000 from the gubernatorial campaign of Democrat Kathleen Brown.

The California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, announced its endorsement of state Treasurer Kathleen Brown's gubernatorial bid Thursday amid continuing allegations--vigorously denied by Brown campaign staffers--that the candidate cheated in her effort to win another key endorsement.

One of Sacramento's most influential lobbyists is a high school dropout and onetime rock 'n' roll singer who has been director of governmental relations for the California Teachers Assn. since 1985. Alice A. Huffman, 55, plots legislative strategy and has a major say in deciding which candidates to endorse and who should be supported with CTA campaign contributions.