Jerry schooling Arnold

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Jerry Brown's inauguration likely to be low-key
by Wyatt Buchanan

The return of Jerry Brown to the pinnacle of California state government has the kind of story line that would seem hard to believe if it weren't true: He was one of the state's youngest governors - and he'll be its oldest, serving a third term after defeating the most highly self-funded candidate in American history on a comparatively minimal budget.

But the ceremonial change of power when Brown takes over is likely to be something much less remarkable.

The governor-elect has not announced plans for an inaugural event, and his staff said they cannot confirm exactly when or where his oath of office will take place. Under the state Constitution, Brown's term begins Jan. 3, but ceremonies can take place before that date.

Sterling Clifford, spokesman for Brown, said the transition team is still in the planning phase for the inauguration and that it is looking at several possible locations in Sacramento.

"I think you can look for this to be a relatively modest affair in part because that's who Jerry is and in part as a reflection of the times," Clifford said. He said there are not plans for any extravagant balls or parties, but the team is considering an "afternoon family-oriented celebration" that would be open to the general public.

rivate funding

Money to pay for inaugural events is raised privately and is not part of the state's budget, which faces a massive $25.4 billion deficit through June 2012.

The events, or lack thereof, will probably be similar to Brown's first two inaugurations, which were decidedly low-key affairs.

In 1975, he was sworn in at the Assembly chamber, where he gave an eight-minute speech, and then traveled to San Francisco and Los Angeles for meetings with local officials.

Four years later, on a rainy day in Sacramento, Brown gave a televised speech as part of his inauguration at the 250-seat auditorium of the state Resources Department. Afterward, the governor and some invited guests ate takeout Chinese food in his office. The food came from the Peking restaurant, which The Chronicle at the time described as a "no-frills cafe in a local shopping center."

ra of limits'

Brown started his first term in office famously declaring an "era of limits" and calling on state government to become leaner. On taxes, he said, "I'm determined to see this year through without asking the people for further sacrifices in the form of new taxes, and this means government must re-examine itself with a view toward eliminating expenditures not absolutely essential to the well-being of the people."

Four years later, in a speech viewed as an opening salvo in a presidential bid, Brown blasted those who called for more government spending to cure inflation.

"These false prophets, I'll tell you, can no longer distinguish the white horse of victory from the pale horse of death," he said.

Recent inaugurations have been much more elaborate affairs. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger held a scaled-back celebration - covered by media from all over the world - when he first took office in 2003, but four years later he held a series of big events with ticket packages topping out at $50,000.

Singers Paul Anka and Donna Summer headlined one of the events, though the governor missed many of the festivities because he had recently broken his leg in a skiing accident in Idaho.

Prior to Schwarzenegger, Gray Davis held a lavish series of events in 1999 after his first election, including a party at Arco Arena featuring musicians Lionel Richie, Kenny G and Coolio. Davis even did an impromptu rap on stage. Both Davis and Schwarzenegger raised and spent several million dollars for the events.

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Jerry Brown's budget cuts start in his own office
by Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Staff Writer

On his fifth day in office, Gov. Jerry Brown announced that he is returning $7 million to the state treasury through a slew of cuts, including shaving the governor's office budget by 25 percent.

California is facing a deficit of up to $28 billion over the next 17 months, and Brown will unveil his budget proposal Monday - a plan that is expected to include deep cuts in spending as well as a restructuring of how many government services are delivered.

On Friday, the new governor announced a number of budget cuts to offices controlled by the executive branch.

As expected, Brown axed the secretary of education position, an advisory office under the governor that was worth $1.9 million annually. Brown also returned the lion's share of transition funds allocated to him, spending just $120,000 of the $770,000 available.

He also cut $4.5 million from the governor's office's $18 million annual budget, in part by eliminating the office of the first lady. Brown's wife, Anne Gust Brown, has already taken an unpaid position as special counsel to the governor.

"California is facing a huge deficit and it is necessary to find savings throughout all of government," Brown said in a written statement. "We all have to make cuts and I'm starting with my own office."

In order to cut one-quarter from his office's budget, Brown eliminated the position of cabinet secretary and all deputy cabinet secretaries. He cut press and communications staff; closed field offices in San Diego, Riverside and Fresno; and cut the governor's Washington, D.C., office staff. Additionally, as Brown announced in December, he eliminated the office of Laura Chick, the special inspector general appointed by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to audit federal stimulus spending in California. That position was temporary and set to expire midyear.

Brown's spending reductions were praised by tax watchdogs, including the California Taxpayers' Association.

"The state definitely needs to economize in every agency and every department, and this is a great first step," said David Kline, a spokesman for the association.

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Gov. Brown offers gimmick-free budget, experts say
Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

Gov. Jerry Brown promised Californians that his budget proposal would avoid gimmicks, and budget experts who reviewed the plan said Brown has mostly stuck to his word.

In tackling the projected $25.4 billion deficit, Brown has proposed $12.5 billion in cuts and an additional $12 billion in taxes and avoided relying on solutions that have little chance of materializing, the experts said. Such gimmicks used to balance the budget in the past have merely pushed the problem into future fiscal years.

Over the past three years, between 75 and 85 percent of deficit solutions never came to fruition, according to the Department of Finance. Brown's budget might break that trend.

"I think this budget is really much more realistically put together than budgets of recent years," said Jean Ross, executive director of the California Budget Project, a Sacramento think tank that advocates for low-income Californians.

Brown's budget, Ross said, "has a much lower reliance on one-time solutions than we've seen in recent years."

She said long-term solutions mean state programs and services - many for poor, sick and elderly residents - face the prospect of deep and permanent cuts.

Some one-time fixes

Brown did, however, include a few proposals that are one-time fixes, rely on borrowing and put payments off until later years.

For example, Brown proposed plugging $5.4 billion of the deficit by borrowing from other internal state funds, shifting property tax revenues from redevelopment agencies to counties, and taking money from voter-approved funds for services for the mentally ill and for young children.

Not relying on bailouts

But H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the state Department of Finance, noted that Brown avoided relying on nonsecured measures such as multibillion-dollar federal bailouts, which former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger included in his last budget even though the money never had been offered to the state.

Palmer said the deficit itself has about $8.2 billion in one-time expenses and so, "Since a portion of the shortfall is one-time in nature, it's appropriate to use solutions that are also one time."

Additionally, Brown plans to put off $2.1 billion in payments to K-12 public schools, a practice known as a "payment deferral." Such deferrals have been a common practice in past budgets and have yet to be paid in full. Adding that much more would bring such deferred payments owed to schools to a total of nearly $10 billion.

And Brown included in his budget the sale of 11 state office buildings, a Schwarzenegger-era deal that has been criticized by nonpartisan entities including the Legislative Analyst's Office. When Brown released his budget Monday, he told reporters he had not decided whether to go forward with the sale. Not doing so would add about $1.4 billion to the deficit.

Fred Silva, a senior fiscal policy adviser for the California Forward think tank and a longtime fiscal adviser at the Capitol, said Brown's budget proposal represents a major change from the year-to-year thinking that has driven spending plans going back to Gov. Pete Wilson in the early 1990s.

But Republicans in California said deficits would be a persistent problem unless Brown tackles public employee pensions and reforms collective bargaining with unions in public schools.

"His proposal is completely inadequate because it does not affect the underlying factors that are cost drivers of state government," said Ron Nehring, chairman of the California Republican Party.

One budget tactic that could become an issue is the billions of dollars in unallocated, or nonspecific, cuts that Brown has proposed for higher education and the court system. Schwarzenegger proposed similarly large, unspecified cuts to prisons that never were fully made.

Cuts in the courts

California's new chief justice, Tani Cantil-Sakauye, met with leaders of the judiciary and the State Bar in San Francisco on Tuesday to discuss Brown's proposed $200 million unallocated cut in the courts' budget.

They will work to try to reduce this "alarming and grave challenge to the judicial branch," Cantil-Sakauye said in an interview after the meetings. Reducing the size of the cut would mean a loss of that money in overall budget savings.

She said all court programs would be on the table, but said the top priority would be preventing closures of courts like those imposed from September 2009 through June 2010, when all of California's courts shut down the third Wednesday of each month to bridge most of a $100 million gap in the judicial budget.

"Our goal today is to keep the courts open," Cantil-Sakauye said. "Especially in times of crisis, when services to people are cut, homes are lost and jobs are taken, the courts need to be open so citizens can come and plead their case. The judicial branch is the safety net."

[tonymctones]

is this guy gay?

or

pro gay?

thats the only way you would support a person right?

[BayGBM]

Brown drops controversial plan to sell state buildings
by Wyatt Buchanan,Bob Egelko

(02-09) 10:55 PST Sacramento -- California will not go through with its controversial plan to sell state buildings then lease them back to help plug the budget deficit, Gov. Jerry Brown announced this morning.

The proposed sale of the California Supreme Court headquarters in San Francisco and ten other buildings would have raised $1.2 billion for the state. But Brown said the plan was short-sighted and would have cost taxpayers billions lease back those buildings over a 35 year period.

"The sale of the buildings really didn't make much sense," Brown said at a news conference at the Capitol.

The buildings included the court at 350 McAllister St., the state Public Utilities Commission building at 505 Van Ness Ave., and buildings in Oakland, Sacramento, Santa Rosa and Los Angeles.

The deal was arranged by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and had been approved by the Legislature, but got caught up in the courts after three former state Building Authority members sued the state to block the sale. They claimed the state would illegally waste taxpayer dollars.

Joseph Cotchett, lawyer for two of the plaintiffs, said he was "delighted that the governor has seen fit to cancel this terrible proposal."

But he said they would continue with their lawsuit, now before the Sixth District Court of Appeal in San Jose, in hopes of preventing such sales in the future.

"We want to come to an agreement with the State of California that these types of sale and leasebacks will not occur," Cotchett said.

Under the state Constitution, he said, "we don't believe that any administration can go out and sell public buildings for short-term gain and long-term loss."

The sale agreement includes a $50 million penalty against the state if it backs out of the deal. Cotchett said the buyers, an investment group called California First, might go to court to try to force the state to proceed with the sale. But he said he and his clients would argue that the contract "was an unconstitutional act and therefore was void, and there should be no penalty."

State Controller John Chiang backed Brown's move.

"This decision shows Governor Brown is serious about ending the budget gimmicks and sideshows," Chiang said. "Only real, on-going solutions will improve our balance sheet and solve our annual fiscal problems."

The plaintiffs had argued that the sale amounted to an illegal gift of state assets to private investors and that the government awarded the contract to politically influential insiders after a secretive bidding process.

Brown's proposed spending plan for 2010-11 includes the $1.2 billion in anticipated revenue from the building sale. He said he will amend his plan to make up for that by borrowing against internal state funds.

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Brown scraps Schwarzenegger's tinsel
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer

California, which grew accustomed to Hollywood-Walk-of-Fame treatment for its former celebrity chief executive, may be returning - to use a line coined by Gov. Jerry Brown - to the politics of "lowered expectations" when it comes to Sacramento's biggest show, the workings of the governor's office.

That's the view of city officials such as Orinda Mayor Victoria Smith, who said Brown's invitation to drop by his office, talk solutions to the crushing state deficit and have "a cup of Nescafé" - yes, Nescafé - was not only novel but also a revelation of how things have changed since Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger left.

Democrat Brown, just three weeks into his third term, "was there in his shirt sleeves," said Smith, recalling the scene as she strolled into Brown's office with a crowd of officials from Orinda and Oroville (Butte County) to take him up on the offer.

'Hard bench' as promised
"There was this picnic table that seats 10 people, and we all sat around it," she said, adding that as Brown had promised, the table "had a really hard bench."

Brown may argue with the characterization of the executive-suite furniture - it's a $1,500 table from his eclectic Oakland warehouse-turned-headquarters - but one thing is clear: Gone are the glitzy trappings of Schwarzenegger's administration.

For starters, "there was no smoking tent," a hallmark of the Schwarzenegger era, marveled Smith.

Also missing, she said, was the celebrity-style rope line holding back crowds of autograph-seeking tourists, the lettering announcing the governor's name, and the cache of awards and movie memorabilia - including the sword from "Conan the Barbarian."

Amid empty offices in the governor's "horseshoe" suite - where Brown has slashed the number of deputy press secretaries from Schwarzenegger's high of 17 to 5, including an intern - Smith said it was clear from the frayed rugs and a hole in the wall that a new day has arrived.

Not the taj mahal
"This wasn't the Taj Mahal," Smith said. "This is the frugal governor."

As he prepares for his State of the State address today, political observers say Brown's third administration appears to strike the right tone - nothing big and showy, just "relentlessly focused," as one adviser put it, on problem solving and California's future.

"Instead of Arnold's huge, fantastic, magical solutions ... Jerry Brown appears to be doing this in a manageable way," said Hoover Institution research fellow Bill Whalen, a Republican consultant who advised former Gov. Pete Wilson.

The downsized tone represents a sea change in Sacramento, where Schwarzenegger graced the cover of Cigar Aficionado magazine and was a fixture on national TV shows like the "The Tonight Show."

Brown, by contrast, seems largely uninterested in such efforts. He has yet to give a one-on-one interview, eschews the national cable shows and has done away with live webcasts of all the governor's events.

And instead of Schwarzenegger's dramatic comings and goings from the Capitol for lunches at upscale spots like the Esquire Grill, with entourage and security detail in tow, Brown has been spotted walking the Capitol halls to pick up a burrito.

Brown's "small is beautiful" mantra reflects the confidence, longtime Capitol observers say, of a man who held the same office more than three decades ago and now knows exactly what he wants.

"We went from a governor who was so concerned about his image and was into policy-making by joke," said Michael Semler, a Cal State Sacramento political scientist, while Brown may represent "the most knowledgeable and inquisitive governor on policy issues that California has ever had."

Brown has tossed some of the flashier trappings of the state's top office in part because of his age, maturity and experience in the office, experts say.

California's future, not his
The 72-year-old Brown underscored those strengths in his 2010 gubernatorial drive launch on the Internet, when he looked directly at the camera and told Californians that "at this stage in my life" he wasn't looking to a future political campaign but to secure California's future, said Joe Trippi, Brown's campaign-ad strategist.

"He's giving you, up front, an explanation on why he needs to do it; he doesn't have time to screw around," said UC Irvine political scientist Mark Petracca.

Whether cutting his staff or demanding cuts in state employee cell phones or state-purchased cars, Brown is "not kidding around," Petracca said. "He's of a particular age where time is more precious - and I think it makes people take you more seriously."

Orinda's mayor said Brown's no-nonsense approach is catching on with officials in her town, who have taken to "brown-bagging" their council meetings, pot-lucking their parties, and ordering "one pizza to share" if they want to eat on official business.

Smith said Brown's comment about drinking Nescafé - not Starbucks - "will make a difference."