California IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Oil Executive Named to Salary Board

Claude Brinegar, vice chairman and chief financial officer for Union Oil Co. of California, will head a new state commission to set the salaries of legislators and other constitutional officers. Gov. George Deukmejian announced the appointment of seven members of the commission created by Proposition 112, approved by voters in June. It was placed on the ballot by the Legislature, concerned about the public perception of corruption at the state Capitol. The measure banned honorariums and limited gifts for lawmakers. But it also created the commission on the theory that if legislators were going to give up some outside income, they should also receive a raise from their present pay of $40,816. Asked if he voted for Proposition 112, Brinegar said he did not vote at all in the June election because he was traveling on the East Coast. Brinegar, a registered Republican, said he did not know if legislators should receive a pay raise. “I’m coming into this with a completely open mind,” he said.