Tale of Two Rookies

In Massachusetts, boos for Ed; in Alabama, cheers for Fob

Helped by the voter backlash against professional politicians, newcomers to politics won gubernatorial elections in several states last year. Among them were two Democrats: Massachusetts' Ed King, a former professional football lineman and director of the state port authority, and Alabama's Fob James, a millionaire manufacturer of sporting goods. Both charged into office in January promising business-like administrations and a fresh approach to solving problems. Since they have taken office, however, the two have met with astonishingly different results: King is foundering badly, while James is off to a successful start.

Eleven weeks into his first term, Edward Joseph King, 53, has run up a remarkable string of fumbles. Apparently oblivious to the advice of much of his own staff, King made a series of appointments so carelessly selected that within weeks four of them were forced to resign. One was pushed out for reputed ties with the Mafia and another for alleged conflicts of interest and mismanagement of union funds. A third was found to have been an associate of a lawyer convicted of fraud and arson. The fourth had claimed to hold degrees from two prestigious European universities but turned out to be a high school dropout.

The conservative King also fired Christina Crowe, deputy director of social services for the state welfare department, for criticizing his freeze on hiring social workers. He canceled two scheduled 6% cost-of-living increases for welfare recipients, most of whom are children, and then asked private charities to help make up the difference. When welfare mothers gathered on Beacon Hill to protest, King refused to meet with them. He ordered a limit on the number of indigent elderly persons who can be accepted by state-funded nursing homes, producing howls of protest. Last week King backed down, saying the limit was only temporary.

Although his own state budget reflected a 4% increase, the new Governor imposed a spending ceiling on every municipality in the state as a step toward meeting his campaign promise of a $500 million reduction in property taxes. Mayors and other local officials protested so loudly that King retreated a bit, agreeing that if two-thirds of a community's voters approved higher spending, its cap would be lifted. Still, most Massachusetts politicians regard the effort as hamhanded, taking no account of growth or inflation. Says a state senator: "Things are more professional on the Quincy city council."

Even King's own associates admit that the burly, lantern-jawed Governor is off to an incredibly bad start. Says an aide: "It's really lack of knowledge. The Governor doesn't know how to run the state. He doesn't listen. Small events shut him out of major events. He has no concept of how to delegate. His appointees, with rare exceptions, are third rate. He writes notes about everything. Most of them get lost. During his first eleven weeks in office, we've spent as much time trying to prevent things as to do things." It is not uncommon for cabinet members to give orders that conflict with orders previously given by King. Aides say he is often impulsive, telephoning agency chiefs and ordering actions the consequences of which he has not considered at all. Says State Democratic Chairman Chester Atkins: "I hope he can turn things around. There's blood in the water, and the sharks are heading for it."

In fact, some Democrats are so distressed with King that they have fruitlessly searched the statute books in hopes that a recall election could be held. A Governor of Massachusetts can be removed only by impeachment. And, complains a King critic, State Representative Barney Frank: "Incompetence is not an impeachable offense."

Although King won the election easily, he has now dropped to a mere 28% approval rating in the polls. Despite his nosedive, most Massachusetts business leaders are still enthusiastic about him and his campaign promise to attract new industries to the state. Says John Hancock Insurance Executive J. Edwin Matz: "If he does only a fraction of what he's trying to do, he'll accomplish a lot."

King is unfazed by the criticism. He still manages to jog every morning, usually near his home in suburban Winthrop. He also attends Catholic Mass daily. During his chauffeured ride to the statehouse, he reads memos and documents. He tries to spend one or two evenings a week with his family, but puts in seven days a week at his office.

In defending himself, he notes, correctly, that he has expanded the state's mental health program. To those who have attacked his welfare policies, King says: "No one will be thrown out on the streets."

He insists that he has a high regard for polls but confesses that he cannot understand the reasons behind his decline in them. Says he: "Everything I'm for, the people are for." In any event, he believes that if he can reduce taxes, the voters will forget about his early blunders and return him to office in 1982.

During the campaign, Forrest Hood James Jr. (nicknamed Fob, as was his father) promised voters "a new beginning," and that is exactly what he has started to deliver. After only 65 days as Governor of one of the nation's poorest, most ill-managed states, James, 44, has turned Alabama's political establishment on its head. Among his surprising moves:

> Immediately after being sworn into office, he began to reduce the state payroll. About 500 people have left government jobs, including many of former Governor George Wallace's cronies. James also imposed a hiring freeze to trim waste. The firings were dubbed the Tuesday Massacre, and bumper stickers soon appeared on the axed bureaucrats' cars, saying:

I VOTED FOR FOB AND LOST MY JOB.

> At James' request, Federal District Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr. gave him the authority to bypass the state board of corrections and end barbaric conditions in Alabama's prison system. Johnson had been at loggerheads with Wallace and the board since ruling in 1976 that the prisons were "junglelike" and constituted cruel and unusual punishment.

> To replace the cumbersome state constitution, James has proposed a streamlined document containing several explosive changes, including home rule for local governments. Under the present constitution, a statewide vote is required if a city wants to impose something as minor as a mosquito abatement tax.

> To the annoyance of the state's teachers, James has ordered that achievement tests be given to students in public elementary schools and has suggested that a method be devised to grade teachers as well. His object is to pinpoint problem schools. James has also proposed diverting $70 million from the state's sprawling, 58-campus higher education system to elementary and secondary schools; Alabama now ranks 47th in the nation in expenditures per pupil.

Instead of political hangers-on, James has appointed experts to run state agencies. He chose a 34-year-old investment whiz as state finance director and a 49-year-old systems analyst as conservation commissioner. James ordered staffers to stop accepting gifts of liquor or football tickets for their services, limited his top aides' salaries to $36,000 ($1,500 less than the legal maximum) and instructed them to work on some state holidays. His personal staff is young and dedicated, and was quickly nicknamed the James Gang.

The Governor himself works 13-hour days and also weekends, seemingly oblivious to the normal practices of Alabama politics. He had to be persuaded by aides to pose for his official photograph, and he even canceled a state-paid obituary clipping service, which enabled Wallace to send letters of condolence to the bereaved. James ambles around the statehouse in torn shirts and scuffed shoes. He shows a surprising lack of interest in publicity; last week he neglected to alert most of the statehouse press corps when he made a surprise visit to two prisons and chatted with inmates. Said the blunt Governor to one"If I ever catch you in here again, I'll whip your ass."

Some legislators warn, however, that the somewhat naive Fob James style may get the Governor in trouble after the legislature convenes this month. Many of his proposals face tough opposition, including a request to raise the gasoline tax to pay for highway repairs. Notes one legislative insider: "He hasn't learned to play by the rules, and in some cases he doesn't care."

James indeed seems not to care. Says he: "Judge me by the bottom line--literacy, jobs, per capita income. I'm going to figure out what's right and do it. If it is right, the people will support it." So far, they have. Preliminary poll results show him with a 69% favorable performance rating, higher than Wallace ever commanded during his twelve years in the Governor's office.

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