Posted on 11/16/2006 12:33:08 PM PST by calcowgirl
SACRAMENTO - Win re-election, clean house.
The political ritual allows administrations to purge those who are burned out or blamed for past mistakes - in some cases helping them out the door - while fresh recruits take their places.
As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger prepares to launch his second term, however, don't wait for the office goodbye party. It's already happened.
In the months leading to Schwarzenegger's victory last week, the governor's office underwent a staffing turnover that is unprecedented in modern California politics.
The thinning of Schwarzenegger's ranks after last year's failed special election has been seen anecdotally through a series of incremental announcements. But the extent of that exodus has not been detailed until now.
After months of record-gathering and written requests to public agencies, The Associated Press has compiled a detailed picture of the Schwarzenegger purge.
Half the administration - or 92 employees - left the governor's payroll, most within a six-month window after the November 2005 special election.
What the purge means depends on the lens through which it is seen.
In one view, it was a practical move, allowing Schwarzenegger to transform his administration into a bipartisan machine that helped him plow his way to re-election. A handful of top officials have been planning to leave after Schwarzenegger's re-election, but an exodus similar to the one earlier this year is highly unlikely.
"The watershed was the disastrous defeat in 2005," said Larry Gerston, a political science professor at San Jose State University. "It meant for Schwarzenegger a rather dramatic shakeup was needed to go back to the glory years."
In another view, however, it reveals the gap between what Schwarzenegger sometimes says and what he does.
The AP analysis of his administration's transformation showed that Schwarzenegger gave many former administration staffers soft landings at taxpayer expense, after he entered office saying he would cut waste and make government more accountable to the people.
He appointed or transferred 40 former employees to posts elsewhere in state government. At least half saw their taxpayer-funded salaries increase, some by more than $30,000 a year.
Schwarzenegger also gave his former speechwriter, scheduler and four others jobs with state boards and commissions he previously said were a waste of taxpayer money and should be eliminated.
"I think it's probably useful for voters to realize that when Arnold puts on his populist garb, he's actually in the system much more than he is out of it," said Bruce Cain, director of the Institute of Governmental Affairs at the University of California, Berkeley. "These appointments - they're people he knows, and it makes it harder for him to go back to being the outsider, the guy who was going to 'blow up the boxes' of government."
Schwarzenegger press secretary Margita Thompson, defended the appointments, saying it was only natural for members of the governor's staff to radiate out to other state agencies.
"He appoints the most qualified people to carry out his vision for state government," she said.
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A makeover for Schwarzenegger's administration was virtually inevitable.
After taking office following the 2003 recall election, Schwarzenegger cobbled together the state's first Republican administration since former Gov. Pete Wilson left office in January 1999. He did it in part by pulling former Wilson staffers out of retirement or from the private sector.
In interviews, some of those closest to the governor said they had no intention of returning to the Capitol for the long term.
Some key staffers who were with Schwarzenegger during the recall and followed him into office also were burned out and looking to leave. Still others said they asked the governor to let them leave for other reasons.
"These seats come open seldom," said Jeffrey Danzinger, Schwarzenegger's former chief speechwriter, of his $114,191-a-year appointment to the Integrated Waste Management Board, which meets once a month.
But the disastrous special election, in which Schwarzenegger sought more authority over state spending and a weakening of public employee unions, hastened the exodus and prompted a much deeper purge than normally would be expected in the middle of a governor's term.
The election left Schwarzenegger highly unpopular and politically vulnerable just as he was entering his re-election year. That meant he needed a different cast to help lead him in a less-confrontational direction, one that ultimately would prove to be more appealing to the centrists who are key to winning statewide office in California.
It's unclear whether Schwarzenegger or his wife, first lady Maria Shriver, who took a more active role in the governor's dealings after the special election, directly forced out some staffers. Sources familiar with his governing style say he prefers to delegate such responsibilities.
Still, several of the exits were among high-profile staffers who had the governor's ear and played key roles in the special election. That included former chief of staff Patricia Clarey and communications director Rob Stutzman, both of whom have since found work in the private sector.
Eight members - or about three-quarters - of Schwarzenegger's inner circle have left in the past year. Many of the foot soldiers, their deputies who turn promises into policy, also were replaced.
Dozens of lower-level staffers were swept out as top aides were shown the door. Some staffers had no interest in staying and working under new chief of staff Susan Kennedy, a Democrat who was a top aide under former Gov. Gray Davis - who Schwarzenegger replaced.
The house-cleaning prepared the Schwarzenegger administration for a tough re-election campaign. The new crew helped him stake out popular positions on global warming, the minimum wage, prescription drug costs and the labor-friendly infrastructure bonds that voters passed last week.
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A slow trickle of Schwarzenegger officials away from the administration is expected in the coming weeks.
The governor's office announced Thursday that Alan Bersin, secretary of education will leave. In December, Legislative Affairs Secretary Richard Costigan also will leave to become managing director of a government-affairs law practice.
But most members of Schwarzenegger's team are expected to remain, at least through the beginning year of his second term.
That means Schwarzenegger's political pendulum will not easily swing back to the right as Democrats warned it might during the election campaign. Instead, his second term is expected to begin as the first one ended - with a team focused on appealing to the state's broad political center.
One hint of that came in recent Schwarzenegger appointments, including the hiring of two senior health care advisers from the ranks of the Davis administration. That sets the stage for negotiating what many expect to be the administration's No. 1 policy goal in 2007, providing greater access to health care.
"In a sense, the re-election was last year, and he cleared house," said Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles. "This was a new team for a new election, and a very successful one at that."
everything about the Gubionator is 'unprecedented'. 'nuff said. :-)
Sidenote: sorry to hear of the passing of Milton FRiedman.
The AP Research shows just how influential Shriver and (Susan) Kennedy were.
Ditto on Milton Friedman. May he RIP.
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