Posted on 10/23/2004 10:04:32 AM PDT by SmithL
SACRAMENTO - Nearly a year into his first term, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger enjoys wide popular support. Just about every Republican candidate longs to appear with him, even President Bush.
Schwarzenegger repeatedly gushes about how much he can't wait to get up every morning because he's having so much fun. For the movie-star-turned governor, everything looks like it's going well -- to use his favorite catchword, "fantastic."
But, behind the carefully choreographed scenes of the smiling chief executive, the situation is more unsettled. Finance Director Donna Arduin has packed her bags for Florida and Cabinet Secretary Marybel Batjer will leave before the end of the year. Others may not be far behind.
In the wake of his election, Schwarzenegger attracted talent from across the nation, people who were excited to be part of his historic administration. They helped the political novice learn the ropes of government.
In an era of term limits and inexperienced lawmakers, a governor's staff exercises more power, especially with a leader like Schwarzenegger who won't settle for legislative inaction.
These high-level departures provide a chance to build, without the pressure of last year's post-recall rush, a more smooth-running team. Discussions are under way about a makeover -- some would call it fine-tuning -- that could change the administration's top levels. The governor is seeking advisers who fit with his unconventional style and with whom he's personally comfortable, according to Schwarzenegger insiders.
The discussions signal an administration in transition, reflecting after a grueling first year on how it can avoid pitfalls and best respond to the governor's free-wheeling style.
Schwarzenegger's deputy chief of staff, Donna Lucas, would not discuss personnel issues. But, she said, "Is he always looking at how we can do it better? Yes."
It's not unusual for there to be a changing of the guard after a governor is in office for a year. But the changes are attracting more attention this time because they reflect on the celebrity-governor's decision-making, a process that has been largely secret to the public.
How the governor fills his vacancies and how far he goes to reshuffle his team will go a long way toward shaping Schwarzenegger's second year and maintaining the energy that's become his hallmark.
The governor is considering inviting his energetic environmental secretary, Terry Tamminen, into his inner circle, according to sources familiar with the discussions. Tamminen is close with Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, and has shown he can get things done. He declined to comment.
Schwarzenegger acknowledged the inevitability of turnover after Arduin announced she was returning to Florida as planned. "There will be other people that have signed on for a year, or that want to leave because they want to go back to their families and all this," he said last week in San Diego.
Schwarzenegger has governed through the sheer force of his will, assembling a disparate staff that could appeal to his diverse political base, which includes both well-groomed suburbs of Fresno and Santa Monica's Muscle Beach. It's a reflection of Schwarzenegger, who wants to hear from competing voices in a style reminiscent of Jerry Brown.
Acknowledging Schwarzenegger's desire for diverse views, press secretary Margita Thompson said, "Once the governor makes a decision, we're all committed to his vision."
But behind the big wooden doors that lead into Schwarzenegger's Capitol office, the eclectic staff has sometimes bumped elbows, according to interviews with current and former administration insiders. More traditional aides try to adjust to Schwarzenegger's freewheeling style. Conservatives and liberals seek to coexist. Aides devoted to the last Republican governor, Pete Wilson, jockey for power with Arnold loyalists.
Schwarzenegger's own zest and spontaneity takes veterans of other administrations some getting used to. For example, the governor has been known to schedule last-minute events and trips that can be "tortuous for Type-A personalities," Thompson said.
There have been fumbles on several fronts, underscoring what administration insiders describe as an uneven flow of information between his immediate advisers in the suite of offices known as "the horseshoe," his agency secretaries and his finance aides.
Sometimes implementing the governor's aspirations collides with political reality. At a reception in July, Schwarzenegger and Tamminen told Sen. Kevin Murray, D-Los Angeles, they were committed to passing solar energy legislation before the end of the session. But when Murray's aides followed up, they found the administration divided.
"There were internal conflicts as to what policy direction to go with. The secretary fought a valiant fight and stayed true to the basic concept that he and the governor and I talked about directly in a conversation," Murray said. "The more conservative folks in the administration did not want the policy to go forward as it did."
Ultimately, Schwarzenegger's position prevailed, but it was late in the session and the bill got tied up in a spat with the Assembly speaker. Thompson blamed it on the compressed time period because of the delayed budget.
On the issue of prisons, Schwarzenegger initially proposed to scale back the state's prison watchdog. But he was forced to reverse himself, partly because it was an unscripted issue that had never come up during the campaign.
Even as he has acknowledged the inevitability of staff turnover, Schwarzenegger doesn't claim to have all the answers.
He appreciates his staff, saying they help him "remember that I only can be as good as the team around me is, as you know. And I've had good people around me."
Including one person who always has the governor's ear. "When you're married to my wife," he joked this week, "you're never your own boss, let me tell you something."
One name that has been floated for Donna Arduin's replacement is Diane Cummins, a high-ranking aide to John Burton. Burton is an extremely leftist nut, who is thankfully termed out of the Senate. He is the one who wrote SB2 - the healthcare mandate on CA businesses that has been placed on the ballot as Prop 72.
If Arnold chooses Cummins, we are in trouble.
http://www.bakersfield.com/state_wire/story/4995761p-5059488c.html
Shh...don't let out too much info about our illustrious Gov. until AFTER he stumps for Bush!
I was under the impression from the git-go that Donna Ardun was here only to do alot of digging and recommend where things needed to be eliminated, merged, cleaned up, etc. I think she has done alot of that, and now either Arnold has to sign the equivilant of a federal executive order or get some sort of help from the legislature in Sacramento.
I hope we get some new blood in Sacto, because the obstinance of John Burton and the likes of Sheila Kuhn of Santa Monica is the biggest problem in the state. They just are so addicted to spend $$$$$ on every "disadvantaged" person below the level of Donald Trump, they can't see the forest any more for the trees.
Personal and Sacramento area pings.
Yep! That Tamminen feller sure can git things DONE!!! He put the whole Sierra-Nevada region into another "Lock-Box" that would make Al Gore swoon!!!
Aren't any of you people getting genuinely concerned with this phony baloney "Wizzard of Oz" crappola? How about come November 3, maybe???
The silence on FR is deafening!!! (but maybe it's just a pregnant pause...)
If a bear poops in the newly enacted Sierra Nevada Conservancy area, will he need an EIS first?
That way they can determine which stinks more... The bear poop, or Schwarzenrenegger's Sierra-Nevada CONservancy crap!!!
I do like his stand on Indian casinos, though.
BTT!!!!
That opens up the enviro secretary job to another NRDC member...Robert Kennedy Jr. would be too obvious...better to keep him in the office writing policy...maybe Bryson of Edison??!!??
I'm not sure. The State resources agency is very large; CDF, DFG, State Parks & Rec, Coastal Conservancy, etc. I'm not sure what the heirarchy is in that large of an organization.
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