The University of California, Merced was thrust into California’s contentious gubernatorial recall election earlier this week when a Republican candidate questioned the fledgling campus’ multimillion-dollar payroll during a national television appearance.

Businessman Bill Simon, in an interview on CNN’s “Newsnight with Aaron Brown,” pointed to the UC Merced project as an example of wasteful government spending.

In response, Larry Salinas, government relations director at UC Merced, said that university officials invite any of the candidates who are “seriously interested in addressing pressing issues in the Central Valley” to come and see firsthand the campus’ contributions to the state’s economic recovery.

Whether Simon opposes opening a 10th UC campus or just feels that the university needs a refresher course in proper management policies is not known. Neither Simon nor his staff returned calls.

However, Simon told CNN’s Brown that the budget deficit was “purely and simply” a spending problem, which he would solve with cuts.

He said that 44,000 new employees have been hired during Davis’ administration, including about 11,000 brought on since Davis instituted a hiring freeze.

“What I’m going to do my very first day is institute a statewide audit of state government. ... We already have 35 instances of fraud, waste and mismanagement,” Simon said in the television interview. “We’re not talking about teachers here or firemen or policemen, all of whom are essential to the well-being of our great state. But what we’re talking about, for example, is the $7.8 million payroll at (UC) Merced. One thing - UC Merced doesn’t exist at this point; there is no campus.”

Officials at the Merced campus beg to differ.

“While we appreciate Mr. Simon raising the awareness of the 10th UC campus at the national level, we are somewhat puzzled that his comments failed to accurately capture the economic benefits that UC Merced is already bringing to California,” said Salinas.

The campus is being built, he said. It has had students in summer session for the past four years, and has students concurrently enrolled at UC Merced and the community college.

The university, which is under construction just south of Lake Yosemite, was expected to open in August 2004. It was delayed by the state Legislature earlier this month and is now scheduled to enroll its first undergraduate students in 2005.

Also, according to the university, estimates indicate that the campus’ construction will create about 500 on-site construction jobs, 500 construction supply and support positions, and 500 jobs in the service industry.

It’s not the university’s job to get mired in the recall campaign, but the fact that Simon made an example of the campus’ spending warrants a factual response, said Salinas.

UC Merced’s payroll - which as of today stands at $10.5 million, not $7.8 million - pays salaries for UC Merced’s 162 full- and part-time employees located in Merced, Fresno and Bakersfield. That staff includes administrators, faculty and staff.

Regarding if the millions spent on the campus’ payroll are needed, UC Merced spokeswoman Sheryl Lichtig Wyan said that like any major organization or business, it takes money to start up. It’s an investment in the future, she said.

Congressman and UC Merced supporter, Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, agreed.

The university needs employees to prepare the campus to open its doors, according to Cardoza.

“We’re not building Joe’s Technical College for Diesel Repair - although that’s important work,” he said. “We’re building a world-class institution and that takes world-class faculty.”

Simon doesn’t understand UC Merced’s importance to the area and doesn’t deserve one vote out of the Central Valley, he added.

The chairman of Merced County’s Republican Party, Jonathan Buettner, said Tuesday that he hadn’t heard Simon’s comments regarding UC Merced.

Having not heard those comments and not being familiar with the issue himself, Buettner said Simon may or may not have had a point.

“I think, in general, Republicans are supportive of the UC system,” he said, adding that the system is overcrowded and needs the 10th campus. Where UC Merced stands on officials’ priority lists, however, may be a different story, he added.

Cardoza said he’s against the recall election. But if the governor is ousted, he said he is encouraging people to vote for Democratic candidate Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante.

Another supporter of UC’s 10th campus and a Democrat, Gov. Gray Davis, did reaffirm his support for the new university.

Spokeswoman Hillary McLean said the governor will always support the Merced campus. It will provide educational access and deliver an economic stimulus to the Valley and the state, she said.

Regarding the campus’ payroll, McLean said the governor hasn’t examined every specific line item in the university’s budget, but knows that a campus can’t start employing people the day it opens. Programs have to be designed and services have to be developed, she said.

Cardoza said the Central Valley historically gets overlooked in statewide elections and whether people are Republicans or Democrats, they should ask candidates how they plan to support the Valley.

The candidates who don’t give the right answers regarding air quality, the supply of water for farmers and UC Merced, Cardoza said, shouldn’t get votes from Central Valley residents.