Perry will fill three slots on board before February

By Sharon Jayson
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, December 13, 2002

Austin could win one, or possibly two, slots on the University of Texas System Board of Regents early next year when Gov. Rick Perry is scheduled to pick three new members for the nine-member panel.

Regents will gather today in Austin for a special meeting, which is expected to be the last before Perry names the trio of appointees sometime before Feb. 1. The state capital, last represented on the board in 1999, is home to the system's flagship campus.

Six-year terms are expiring for three of former Gov. George W. Bush's appointees: Pat Oxford of Houston, Dub Riter of Tyler, and Tony Sanchez of Laredo, who lost his gubernatorial bid to Perry in November. None of them is seeking reappointment.

Sources close to the search say the Austinites being mentioned are lawyer Hector DeLeon, businessman James Huffines and Pam Willeford, chairwoman of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and head of the committee planning Perry's Jan. 21 inauguration.

DeLeon sits on the Texas Exes alumni association board and leads an advisory committee for the College of Education at UT-Austin. Huffines, president of the Austin region for PNB Financial and a principal at Hester Capital Management, led Perry's 2000 transition team and is co-chairman of the Texas Inaugural Committee.

The three declined to comment about their prospects. So did two Houstonians whose names are also being floated. They are H. Scott Caven Jr., Perry's campaign finance chairman, and J. Virgil Waggoner, a longtime UT supporter who along with his wife, June, gave $5 million to create the Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research at UT-Austin. All five potential appointees made contributions of $1,000 to $7,500 to Perry's most recent campaign.

The UT System Board of Regents is a powerful lot. Members set policy for the 15-campus system that includes UT-Austin and oversee a budget totaling more than $7 billion. In many cases, appointees, who are not paid, are high-dollar campaign contributors and supporters of the governor. An appointment to the regents board is considered among the most prestigious the governor makes.

Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said no one has been interviewed for a seat on the board, but she said Perry will move quickly to fill the slots.

Austin did not have a regent on the board from February 1991 through February 1993. Former Gov. Ann Richards, a Democrat, then chose businessman Lowell Lebermann Jr. and lawyer Martha Smiley. Their terms ended in 1999.

State Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, an Austin Democrat, has said he didn't expect Austin to have another regent until a Democrat occupied the Governor's Mansion again. These days, after November's Republican sweep, he's sounding less partisan. Legislative tradition allows local senators to block gubernatorial appointments from their districts.

"I'm sure there are several Republicans around that would do the job," Barrientos said.

Democratic Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. of Brownsville said Rio Grande Valley leaders are hoping Perry will pick someone from the border. Last year, the Edinburg City Council asked Perry to appoint a Rio Grande Valley resident. He chose Bob Estrada of Dallas instead.

"Right now, I'm not pushing names, I'm pushing more representation from our area," Lucio said.

Lucio said he plans to file legislation that would create regional representation on panels such as boards of regents.

UT regents Chairman Charles Miller of Houston said regents must consider overall state interests, not local ones.

In recent years, Perry has sought to bring racial, ethnic and gender diversity to the board. He named three women, including Judith Craven, a physician who is the board's first African American female appointee. When Sanchez steps down, Estrada, a lawyer and chairman of an investment banking firm, will be the only Hispanic UT regent.

Walt said that diversity, along with "strong fiscal responsibility backgrounds" will be qualities Perry is looking for.

"The primary factor is the strength of the individual applicants," she said.

sjayson@statesman.com; 445-3620