CAPITOL NOTEBOOK: UNZ RELISHES NOTORIETY AS LOOSE CANNON.

Byline: Terri Hardy and Dorothy Korber

``A maverick Republican'' is the way Silicon Valley entrepreneur Ron Unz describes himself. Unz clearly wants to capitalize on his loose-cannon reputation as the force behind Proposition 227, the initiative that ended bilingual education in California.

When he announced his run for U.S. Senate against Dianne Feinstein last week, Unz - wearing his trademark white turtleneck - said his campaign will go where politicians fear to tread.

``I will be running on those very important issues, which nearly all the politicians of both parties do their best to avoid,'' he boasted at his Sacramento press conference. Almost instantly, Unz faced an issue even he might have happily sidestepped.

The question concerned a recent profile of Unz in the New Republic suggesting that in his student days the young Unz eschewed girls. Did the new candidate care to comment?

``I'm perfectly normal,'' Unz assured the press.

Whatever that means, Bill Horn would dispute it. San Diegan Horn, also a candidate in the Republican primary for Feinstein's seat, makes fun of Unz, calling the high-tech multimillionaire ``a political dilettante flitting from one popular issue to the next.''

Horn's campaign consultant, Scott Taylor, is even nastier: ``Ron Unz is the Republican Party's Uncle Fester. Every two years for no apparent reason he emerges from the attic.''

Fearlessly moderate

That sound of popping champagne corks coming from the Governor's Office is not your imagination.

Last week, Time magazine published a story about Gov. Gray Davis, calling him ``the most fearless governor in America'' - eliciting a gleeful celebration among the governor's staffers.

But the Time reporter failed to point out that many of Davis' strides were possible only because his fellow Democrats control the Legislature.

And the magazine didn't report that some of the governor's proudest successes, such as last winter's hurry-up education legislation, were harshly criticized as watered-down and unlikely to result in any true reforms.

The Sacramento press corps, not as enthralled with Davis as their East Coast colleagues, mostly hooted at Time's sycophantic characterization. Democrats inside the Capitol don't see Davis as a trailblazer either, suggesting privately the governor's self-proclaimed moderate stance is driven more by fear than fearlessness.

``The most fearless governor in America? You mean the man most afraid of his own shadow!'' one legislative staff member scoffed.

Confronted with some positive publicity, Davis staff members took the opportunity to wag their fingers at reporters, contending that the Capitol press corps can't see Davis' forest of achievements for the trees.

Bills signed into law

Among the numerous items of legislation sent to the governor this year, here are a few of the ones he recently signed into law:

Senate Bill 1091, by state Sen. Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento, creates a commission to oversee the planning for a permanent governor's residence in Sacramento.

SB 430, by Sen. Richard Alarcon, D-Van Nuys, takes aim at slumlords by allowing local government to place liens on private property to recover unpaid fees and enforcement costs.

Assembly Bill 1391, whose authors include Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, will put a $220 million bond issue on the March ballot to improve crime labs.

AB 1595, by Assemblywoman Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, requires health warning labels on cigars.