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As Governor Schwarzenegger prepares for a second term in office, he's bringing in a few new faces and shuffling some of the current folks to new positions. Dan Dunmoyer becomes the governor's new Cabinet Secretary, the main liaison between Schwarzenegger's inner circle and the myriad of state agencies. Dunmoyer, who has been on the governor's staff for the past year, is best known in Capitol circles as the former head of the Personal Insurance Federation of California-- the lobbying association of the "property-casualty" insurance industry. Dunmoyer becomes Governor Schwarzenegger's fourth Cabinet secretary in the past three years. Meantime, the governor's...

Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger promises comprehensive healthcare reforms but says he's saving the details for after the election. Critics say the governor's opposition to Democratic proposals and his failure to offer solutions of his own do not bode well for a second term. But on Friday, in a Fox News interview, the governor said: "We are going to go and do everything that we can to reform healthcare, to provide healthcare for everyone in California." (snip) Schwarzenegger has tapped healthcare policy experts to help draft a reform plan, with the idea of laying out the particulars next year in his...

As Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger looks toward a second term, he has vowed to make access to health care a top priority. Schwarzenegger intends to unveil a major health-care plan in January, if re-elected. In preparation, Schwarzenegger has hired a top-level staff to actually write the proposal that includes ranking health-care experts from former Gov. Gray Davis' administration. Richard Figueroa, a veteran health-care consultant and go-to person for health issues on Davis' executive staff, is joining Schwarzenegger's team next week, according to Capitol and private sources with direct knowledge of Figueroa's new position. They confirmed that Schwarzenegger intends to release...

As Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, looks toward a second term, his administration has vowed to make access to health care a top priority. The govenror hopes to unveil a major health-care plan that he hopes to unveil in January if he is re-elected. In preparation, Schwarzenegger has hired a top-level staff to actually write the proposal that includes ranking health-care experts from former Gov. Gray Davis' administration. Richard Figueroa, a veteran health care consultant and go-to person for health issues on Davis' executive staff, will join Schwarzenegger's team next week in the Department of Managed Health Care, according to Capitol...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Wednesday that includes a provision added in the waning days of the legislative session allowing his administration to nearly double the pay of 50 top state bosses. Under Assembly Bill 2936, the workers -- mostly heads of agencies and departments -- could get as much as 125 percent of the governor's salary, although the governor says he intends to extend the raise to only one or two officials. Schwarzenegger doesn't take his pay. But in 2007, the salary assigned to his office is scheduled to increase to $206,500. That would mean the top administrators...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday tapped an Oakland high school teacher and government ethics advocate for the state teachers' retirement board. Peter Reinke, a third-generation teacher, will join the 12-member board of the influential California State Teachers' Retirement System, filling the post vacated by controversial Schwarzenegger adviser David Crane. Under fire by teachers' groups and labor unions, Crane was ousted last June by Senate Democrats who said the governor's special adviser for jobs and economic growth was not the right fit for the post at the $142 billion fund. Crane came under criticism for his refusal to oppose a legislative...

SACRAMENTO – When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was swept into office by the recall election in 2003, he promised to end politics as usual, where “money goes in and favors go out.” But Schwarzenegger has carried on the political tradition of providing favors – in the form of coveted state appointments – to generous campaign donors. At least 13 of Schwarzenegger's appointees, their spouses and their companies have contributed more than $1.4 million to his campaigns, according to campaign disclosure forms and a review by the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. Schwarzenegger has hired some donors for key positions in...

One of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's closest advisors and strongest voices for cleaner energy has left the administration, a departure that environmental activists describe as a worrisome loss. Terry Tamminen, a favorite of the governor who held some of the most powerful positions on his staff, is now working for Schwarzenegger's campaign as a volunteer and is not planning to return after the election, the governor's aides said. Tamminen, a Democrat, was part of an inner circle with easy access to the governor, leaving him well-positioned to make the case for solar energy, alternative fuels and environmental protection. With Tamminen gone,...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed two well-connected Southern California Republicans to the University of California Board of Regents on Friday, filling two vacancies on the 26-member body. William De La Pena, 52, is a prosperous ophthalmologist in Whittier (Los Angeles County) with chains of eye clinics serving Latino communities in East Los Angeles and Santa Ana. Bruce Varner, 69, a civically involved Redlands lawyer whose clients include grocery chain Stater Brothers, is a friend and contributor to longtime Republican Rep. Jerry Lewis of Redlands (San Bernardino County). Lewis, who is under federal investigation for his ties to lobbyists and contractors, wrote...

LOS ANGELES In his bid for more power over public schools, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is set to appoint a veteran educator to a post designed to ease tensions between City Hall and public school officials opposed to the plan, the Los Angeles Times reported. Ramon C. Cortines, who served six months as interim superintendent of the L.A. Unified school district in 2000, is scheduled to be named deputy mayor for education, youth and families Tuesday. Cortines did not say whether he supports state legislation that would grant Villaraigosa say in district management a proposal that has drawn fire from the...

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday appointed the president of a San Jose Hispanic university to the state Board of Education. David Lopez, 53, replaces the former board president, who resigned unexpectedly June 30. Lopez has been president of National Hispanic University since 2003. The school's goal is to increase college attendance of Hispanics and other typically underserved students. Schwarzenegger has been trying to shore up support among Hispanic voters as he seeks re-election. Also Tuesday, his campaign announced the formation of “Hispanic Families for Arnold,” a group of more than 60 Hispanic community leaders who support his re-election....

Sunne Wright McPeak, secretary of the state Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, said she will leave the cabinet in November, regardless of whether Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wins re-election, to run a nonprofit aimed at bringing Internet access to urban poor and rural Californians. McPeak, a Pleasanton resident, former president of the Bay Area Council and former Contra Costa County supervisor, has led the state's largest government agency since November 2003. Hers will be the second announcement in two weeks of a cabinet member from the Bay Area stepping down. On June 23, former San Jose Rep. Norman Mineta announced he...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in Oakland today that he supports state legislation that would give crime victims new rights. Accompanied by local police chiefs and several high profile crime victims, Schwarzenegger also said he has appointed Susan Fisher of Sacramento to the newly-created position of Crime Victim Advocate and that he is expediting a program to use global positioning systems to track dangerous criminals. He said he supports "The Crime Victims Bill of Rights," a comprehensive legislative proposal authored by Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, D-Hanford, to help crime victims overcome the hardships caused by criminal acts. Schwarzenegger said he has directed...

Congratulations to state first lady Maria Shriver's former press secretary, Terri Carbaugh, on her appointment to the $114,191-a-year Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. Carbaugh, whom Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed a few days back, worked for Shriver from 2004 until she went off the payroll last month. Upon confirmation by the state Senate, Carbaugh will join an impressive roster of political insiders on the commission, which hears appeals from people who feel they were unfairly denied unemployment benefits: -- Former Gov. Gray Davis' legislative secretary, Ann Richardson, whom Davis appointed as he left office. -- Former Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 572 Jack...

Democratic lawmakers have denied David Crane, one of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's friends and economic advisers, a seat on the California State Teachers' Retirement System board. The Senate Rules Committee voted 3-2 along party lines Wednesday to reject the Republican governor's appointment of Crane to the board. Democrats said they were concerned he would not protect teachers' pensions. Schwarzenegger last year was forced to withdraw an attempt to alter public employee pensions after police and firefighters launched an ad campaign against it. The governor wanted to shift retirement plans for teachers and other public employees to a defined-contribution system - one...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Democratic lawmakers have denied David Crane (D), one of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's friends and economic advisers, a seat on the California State Teachers' Retirement System board. The Senate Rules Committee voted 3-2 along party lines Wednesday to reject the Republican governor's appointment of Crane to the board. Democrats said they were concerned he would not protect teachers' pensions. Unions opposed Crane's nomination because he thought CalSTRS should not have weighed in on the governor's pension proposal. Crane, a San Francisco financier, has served as the governor's special adviser on jobs and economic growth since Schwarzenegger was elected...

SACRAMENTO Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger filled a dormant state commission with four Democrats on Friday before asking them to approve a $1-an-hour minimum wage increase without the annual cost-of-living adjustments pushed by Democratic lawmakers. Two of the four were originally appointed to the Industrial Welfare Commission by former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and served until their terms expired last year. The two others were new appointments by the Republican governor, one of them representing the state manufacturer's association. A fifth commissioner's term expires in January. Schwarzenegger, who vetoed two previous minimum wage increases, is asking the commission to increase the minimum...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday named a former aide to Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Steve Westly as head of the California Environmental Protection Agency. Linda Adams, 57, a Democrat from Sacramento with a long history in state government, will come out of retirement to lead the agency at a time when the Schwarzenegger administration is advancing its initiative to reduce greenhouse gases in the state. "This was an opportunity I could not pass up," Adams said in an interview with The Associated Press. "There is so much going on in the area of climate change and global warming." Adams worked in...

Arnold Schwarzenegger now has the former top aides to his two would-be Democratic rivals working for him. It’s all part of his strategy of “buying off the ticked off,” as an Arnold friend puts it. Yesterday the governor moved unilaterally to take another major Democratic issue off the table by raising the minimum wage. Today he appoints lifelong Democrat and environmental favorite Linda Adams as his new secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency. With the retirement of veteran air quality warrior Alan Lloyd from CalEPA, there had been concern in environmental circles that the secretaryship would go to a...

Linda Adams will be named director of the California Environmental Protection Agency today by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, an administration source said. "With more than 30 years of service to the state … Linda Adams is eminently qualified to serve as secretary for the Cal-EPA," said Bill Maile, spokesman on environmental issues for the governor's office. Adams, 57, a Democrat who has won praise from environmentalists, worked in high-ranking jobs for both state Controller Steve Westly and Gov. Gray Davis, and ran the state Department of Water Resources, among other positions. Westly is running against Treasurer Phil Angelides in the Democratic...