Brown’s California agriculture board pick hit by backlash

SACRAMENTO — Isadore Hall was a veteran Democratic legislator from Compton until he gave up his seat to run for Congress and lost. But Gov. Jerry Brown gave him a soft landing when he appointed Hall to a six-figure job mediating disputes between farmers and union workers.

Hall’s former Democratic colleagues in the California Senate confirmed him Thursday to the Agricultural Labor Relations Board despite allegations that he threatened farmers who opposed his nomination and is too close to labor interests.

The obscure board often draws fierce partisan conflict between agriculture-backed Republicans and labor-supported Democrats. But the fight over Hall was especially touchy.

“The once thorough and extensive Senate confirmation process for appointees of the governor has been corrupted,” said Sen. Andy Vidak, a Republican from Hanford in California’s Central Valley agricultural heartland. “Isadore Hall is a classic case of someone who is completely unqualified, ill-suited and ethically challenged getting rubber-stamped rather than vetted.”

According to Vidak, farmers opposed to Hall’s nomination told the GOP lawmaker that Hall threatened to “get” them during a confrontation at a Sacramento hotel bar the night before his confirmation hearing.

Vidak last month called for Hall’s confirmation vote to be delayed pending an investigation. When Democratic leaders refused, he filed a complaint with the Legislative Ethics Committee. Vidak also asked Brown to withdraw Hall’s nomination.

“It’s not our practice to review or investigate barroom conversations,” said Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles.

Hall was a well-liked lawmaker known for bantering and joking with colleagues. He represented Compton in the Assembly and Senate for eight years until he opted against a re-election bid and ran instead for Congress. He lost to fellow Democrat Nanette Barragan in November.