| Jo Ellen Allen, a public appointee to the State Bar board of governors,
resigned last month. Her departure leaves only two public members - businessman John
Morris and psychologist Dorothy Tucker, both of Los Angeles - on the board, and four
vacancies.  Tucker's
term has expired, but she can continue to serve until she is reappointed or replaced, and
Morris has said he does not want to be reappointed when his term expires in October.
Tucker was appointed to her last term by then Senate Pro Tem Bill Lockyer, D-Hayward.
Morris was appointed twice by former Gov. Pete Wilson.
Allen, public affairs director of the Southern California Edison Co., was one of four
appointees of Wilson.
Two years ago, the Wilson appointees worked closely as a bloc, along with another
Republican-appointed public member, Gregory Segall, that was highly critical of the way
the bar operated. With three members of that bloc no longer on the board, Allen said she
felt her views do not carry as much weight as they once did. She has not attended a
meeting since September.
"I've never had the time to spend that I think needs to be spent," Allen
explained. "With the change of administration in Sacramento and knowing that I'd be a
lone voice in the wilderness, it seemed appropriate to let the new governor put someone in
there."
 Allen said she felt
Wilson's veto of the bar's dues bill in 1997 presented "a real opportunity for the
board to reassess its objectives and priorities and the way it interacted with its members
and the public. I think that was a good thing, but now I think it will largely be business
as usual."
Allen was first appointed to the board by Wilson in 1994 and was reappointed to a
three-year term in 1996. She served on the communications, legal services and admissions
committees as well as on an ADR task force.
 Allen has
both a Ph.D. and a master's degree in political science from the University of Southern
California.
The three other vacant public member positions were held by Segall, of Los Angeles,
whose term expired in October 1998 and Wilson appointees Wendy Borcherdt, also of Los
Angeles, who had been reappointed by Wilson but lost her seat last September when the
legislature failed to confirm the appointment within one year; and Peter Kaye of San
Diego, whose term ended in October 1997. |
