By
The Associated Press
PHOENIX - While a lengthy chapter in the Fife Symington saga has finally ended, most of the book on the former Arizona governor has already been written.
Call Saturday's presidential pardon a post script, but do not think it will change the legacy of the man whose convictions on bank and wire fraud charges forced him to leave office, political experts say.
"What Fife Symington is going to be looked at as a governor in the history of Arizona has already been decided," said Northern Arizona University political science professor Zachary Smith. "Politics and political history are made up of perceptions."
Laurie Levenson, a former prosecutor who is now a law professor at Loyola University, said the ex-governor "still has a cloud over his head.
"In general, what I say about pardons, is the conviction and the legal proceedings have already left their mark," she added. "His life is forever changed by this prosecution even if there will never be a formal conviction or sentencing."
Symington was convicted Sept. 3, 1997, on charges that he used false financial statements to obtain several loans, including the pension funds loan, when he was a developer in the early 1990s. He announced his resignation the same day.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the convictions in 1999 after determining a juror was improperly removed during deliberations.
Symington's pardon - one of 140 that President Clinton granted on his final day of office - was a pre-emptive move against the possibility of a second trial; prosecutors were still determining whether to bring him back to court.
He still faces a civil case in U.S. Bankruptcy Court stemming from a $10 million loan to six union pension funds. The funds are suing Symington to recover the money he borrowed to build the failed Mercado office and shopping complex in downtown Phoenix plus $8 million interest.
But for many politicians, it marks the end of a tumultuous 12-year period in the public spotlight that began in April 1989 when the relatively unknown Phoenix developer declared his candidacy for the state's top office. They also say the pardon has ended an embarrassing era in the state's history.
"Maybe this will help end one of the black eyes that Arizona has nationally," said former Democratic Rep. Herschella Horton. "I'd like to see us get over that. We're so much better than we're portrayed nationally."
But the state's unfavorable reputation existed before Symington took the oath of office in 1991 and after he left his office to Gov. Jane Hull in 1997, said University of Virginia political science professor Larry Sabato.
"Arizona has a quirky reputation anyway," he said. "It's produced Barry Goldwater and John McCain, both iconoclasts. And (former Gov. Evan) Mecham and Symington, neither of whom are public officials the state can be proud of."
Sabato also feels a certain taint comes from a Clinton pardon, which he attributes as being "very much akin to being called beautiful by a frog.
''Having been in his own mind persecuted as a public official, Clinton is automatically sympathetic to felonious public officials whether they are guilty or not," he said.
He agrees with the politicians and Symington supporters who feel an end to the case may be the best result for the state.
While Symington has not ruled out re-entering the public sphere, he said he is happy in his new life working as a chef at a north Scottsdale restaurant.
Symington said he and his wife Ann will always question why this process has taken so long, but added that he is not bitter, just relieved.
"Certainly this is the most elegant way to end this saga," he said.
