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SACRAMENTO – The Folsom prison guard who turned the California Correctional Peace Officers Association into one of the Capitol’s most powerful political forces is stepping down after 20 combative, colorful years at the helm. 

Don Novey, 55, says it’s time for fish, golf and grandchildren. 

In his wake, he leaves a five-year, 34 percent raise totaling $1 billion for the union’s 28,000 employees, a feat pulled off early this year amid a $23.6 billion budget deficit. 

Under Novey’s leadership the once-obscure union rode a wave of tough-on-crime laws and a $5 billion expansion of the state prison system to become one of the most formidable players in state politics. The union spent more than $2 million in 1998 to help elect Gov. Gray Davis and has contributed another $650,000 to his current campaign. 

An influential force in the “Three Strikes And Your Out” campaign that mandated long prison sentences for repeat offenders, the union also provided cash, endorsements and television ads that helped elected Gov. Pete Wilson in 1990. 

Novey, who is retiring this Thursday from the headquarters he built in West Sacramento with its gun turret windows overlooking the lobby, will be replaced by the union’s longtime number two chief, Mike Jimenez. 

“There’s a time in your life when you have to move on and face new, wonderful challenges,” Novey says. He says he will stay active in politics and is weighing three other offers. 

The former U.S. Army intelligence officer says he moved into union politics full time after hating the way managers treated guards at Folsom State Prison. After becoming president of the 2,000-member union, Novey, with his trademark black fedora hat, flashy clothes and tough, blunt manner, built the union into a $22 million-a-year powerhouse with nearly 28,000 members paying $59 a month in dues. 

While counting politicians among his friends, he says he learned much about how to deal with them during his stint working with prisoners at Folsom. 

“That might sound strange,” he says, “but the conniving, the manipulation — it’s two subcultures of our society, and some of the same type of gamesmanship goes on in both elements.” 

Novey’s detractors include supporters of private prisons. Sen. Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles, who supports them, has likened Novey to a demagogue who opposes anyone who disagrees with him. Polanco declined to comment on his retirement. 

Under Novey’s leadership, pay for prison captains with 10 years experience has grown to $78,000 yearly, while nonsupervisors with six years experience earn about $55,000. 

Says D.O. “Spike” Helmick, commissioner of the California Highway Patrol, “He’s done an excellent job for his people. I admire him for it.”