Doyle dumps four unconfirmed regents
10:53 PM 1/06/03
Karen Rivedal Higher education reporter

As expected, Gov. Jim Doyle ousted four members of the UW Board of Regents and is replacing them with his own choices for the powerful higher education governing panel.

The four sent packing - James Klauser, Phyllis Krutsch, Lolita Schneiders and Gerard Randall - were nominated by former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson in 2000 and 2001. But their appointments were never confirmed as required by the state Senate, which then was controlled by Democrats.

"I think we all knew that it could happen," Schneiders said Monday. "It's his prerogative. I'm surprised he did it so fast."

Doyle sent a letter to the Senate late Monday, his first day in office, withdrawing the appointments along with the names of 123 other Republican appointees with pending confirmations. He hasn't named his proposed replacements, which the Senate could take up in hearings this month.

Since the November election, it has been common knowledge that Doyle would have the chance to replace a majority of the 17-member Board of Regents. In addition to the four unconfirmed appointees, five more members could be replaced by Doyle by May because of turnover in the seven-year regent terms.

Klauser said he could live with the decision.

"I'm not going to cry about it," he said. "Life is too short to get all worked up."

Klauser, a former state government department head and close friend of Thompson, said he doesn't fault Doyle, a Democrat, for taking advantage of the opportunity to appoint so many of his own people to the Board of Regents quickly.

But Klauser did blame Senate Democrats for handing Doyle that chance.

The Senate's decision to ignore GOP appointments, thus making them vulnerable to removal, was widely seen as part of a hardball strategy by then-Majority Leader Chuck Chvala to consolidate power for the next governor, whom Chvala assumed would be a Democrat.

"I think there were 250 appointees that the Chvala Senate had not acted on," Klauser said. "I think that is very troublesome. That was wrong. It affects the continuity of boards."

"The university is a very important board," added Klauser, who headed the board's business and finance committee. "It's a lot of work, and it's really going to be a lot of work this time around."

It remains to be seen if the Senate, now controlled by Republicans, will attempt to similarly stall any of Doyle's appointees, which so far have been generally well received on both sides of the aisle.

Schneiders, a former Republican state lawmaker, said she had mixed feelings about having to leave the board.

"If I had been confirmed I would have been very happy, but it was a pleasure and a great honor to serve on the board," Schneiders said. "All of us unconfirmed members had unique backgrounds and talents to contribute. I don't remember a single partisan act. We were serving for the good of the university system."