State Sen. Pat Wiggins has informed Senate leaders that she is not going to resign despite signs she is no longer working, except in a limited capacity, according to Senate sources.
Wiggins told Senate Pro-Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, in a private meeting March 2 that she will not be stepping down early amid speculation the 69-year-old Santa Rosa Democrat is suffering a serious mental decline.
Wiggins, who has not spoken publicly about her health problems that have included several embarrassing outbursts at public events in the past 1?years, refused through her staff this week to address questions about her future.
Senate sources said that in her meeting with Steinberg, Wiggins made it clear she plans to remain in office through the end of her term, which expires Dec. 1. She is not seeking re-election.
Whether Wiggins remains in office is apparently a decision being left to her and her husband, Guy Conner, a Democratic Party consultant.
Steinberg, as leader of the Senate, cannot by himself force Wiggins out of office. Voters could do that through the recall process. Or senators could vote by a two-thirds majority to expel her, which nobody thinks will happen in Wiggins' case.
Alicia Trost, a spokeswoman for Steinberg, said he does not want to discuss Wiggins' situation publicly because he considers it to be a private health matter.
"We support whatever decision she makes for herself and for her office," Trost said.
Should Wiggins stay in office, it would render moot Wednesday's deadline to call a special election if she resigned by then.
Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, is seeking Wiggins' seat and has said she would run in a special election should it be necessary. If she won, Evans would have to give up her Assembly seat and her prominent role as co-leader of a budget committee.
Evans declined comment Friday.
If Wiggins resigns after Wednesday, her seat would remain vacant through the end of her term.
However, it's clear Wiggins has no plans to step down, even though her role at the Capitol and in the vast 2nd Senate District spanning Solano County to the Oregon border has been further diminished in the past two weeks.
Outside of two brief appearances on the Senate floor, Wiggins has not made any other public appearances at the Capitol or in her district.
Wiggins skipped the Sonoma County Democratic Party's Feb. 26 crab feed at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building attended by hundreds, including new Assembly Speaker John Perez, the event's keynote speaker.
On Thursday, Wiggins' staff told a Press Democrat reporter who attended the Senate floor session that she was present at the Capitol and that she would be taking part in the proceedings.
But when Wiggins failed to appear, the senator's staff said she had taken ill and could not make it.
David Miller, the senator's press aide, said doctors have advised Wiggins to reduce her workload "for the immediate term so that she can be properly rested for future activities."
Miller said the senator's role will be limited to floor sessions and committee hearings "when she is needed."
Miller said this amounts to a further reduction in the senator's workload beyond what was announced earlier this year, when Wiggins gave up six committee posts while undergoing treatment for her medical condition.
She since has had to give up a spot on a Senate budget subcommittee dealing with natural resources. Four of her remaining posts are on select committees that meet sporadically.
Petaluma-based political consultant Brian Sobel said Wiggins' situation represents a "conundrum" because people feel empathy toward her but also want adequate representation in Sacramento.
He said some will argue there is no benefit to her stepping down now, given the relatively short amount of time she has left in office.
"The argument is that having someone do a little bit may be better than having nobody at all," he said.
But when it comes to important legislative business, such as the tug-of-war over the state's massive deficit, Sobel said Wiggins' diminished state could prove detrimental to the interests of her constituents.
"There's no substitute for senators being on the floor working things day in and day out. Clearly, there's a disadvantage to her not being there," he said.
Wiggins has not agreed to a formal interview with the Press Democrat since August 2008, when she discussed an outburst she had at a Capitol hearing on global warming. At that hearing, Wiggins told a pastor that his arguments were "bull----."
Another outburst by Wiggins at a Feb. 17 hearing of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee drew renewed attention to her health problems.
Wiggins, apparently enraged that a water canister had gone unfilled, yelled repeatedly and charged toward committee staff members before another senator and a Wiggins aide intervened.
Despite her health difficulties, Wiggins continues to introduce legislation, including bills that would overhaul the state's Dungeness crab fishing industry, expand health care benefits for the developmentally disabled in Sonoma County and increase a local vehicle registration fee from $1 to $2 a year. That extra money would provide more roadside assistance and emergency call boxes on highways, particularly along rural and coastal roads where cell service is nonexistent.
Miller said Wiggins is briefed on the status of her bills while the details are handled by her staff, which he said is standard for all legislators.
He said Wiggins checks in on occasion at her district office in Santa Rosa, but otherwise stays home, communicating with her staff via e-mail and fax.
He said the senator has public appearances upcoming in the district, but he declined to release that schedule.
In response to a legal request filed by The Press Democrat seeking that information, the office of the secretary of the Senate, which keeps such records, said it had none in regard to Wiggins' district schedule.
It's unclear whether that means she has no events planned or whether she does, but the information has not been shared with Senate leadership.
Wiggins continues to earn a salary that pays $95,291 annually, as well as providing health care benefits.
You can reach Staff Writer Derek Moore at 521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com.
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