Yesterday Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a number of changes in key senior positions in his administrations. A number of them represent great moves, and a few of them are, frankly very disturbing.
Let’s start with the great news! First and foremost, the Governor’s elevation of conservative Dan Dunmoyer to the position of Cabinet Secretary is outstanding news for all of us. Dan is capable, smart and effective. In this key position which acts as a liaison and coordinator between the Governor and all of the Agency heads will be in good hands. Undoubtedly this will be a big relief for former Assemblyman Fred Aguair, the GOPer who has been toiling out of the limelight in this role for awhile now.
In other big news for conservatives — stalwart Cynthia Bryant has been given a big promotion. For years, Cynthia has been sitting second chair to Richard Costigan in the Governor’s legislative affairs unit, working to push the Governor’s policy agenda with the Senate and Assembly. But having a strong conservative in that office has undoubtedly lead to a lot of bad bills being vetoed. The Governor has tapped Cynthia to be a Deputy Chief of Staff and to head up the office of Planning and Research, putting her in the role of overseeing policy development for the Governor. She will do a great job with this! She walks into an office being left open by another GOPer, Sean Walsh, who is moving over to the Governor’s Executive Office to serve as a Deputy Chief of Staff and senior advisor to the Governor.
Finally, the FR welcomes GOPer Chris Kahn back into an office he knows well. After years of occupying one of the most physically taxing positions in any Gubernatorial administration — Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative Affairs — Richard Costigan finally pulled the plug and has moved off into the public affairs realm. Coming in to try to fill his shoes will be Chris Kahn. Kahn, who is a big-time Sacramento lobbyist right now, previously held this same role for former Governor Pete Wilson. Kahn also worked for several GOP members of the legislature, and is well respected by Republican members. This good will may be very important to Chris as he tries to act as a middle-man between the Governor and legislative Republicans at a time when the Governor is making noises about a possible massive government incursion into the realm of healthcare, and more regulation of California businesses under the name of environmental reform. That said, Chris’ main body of work will not be these few high-profile issues, but managing the thousands of bills going through the legislature, and helping to guide the Governor’s eventual decisions on what to do with the ones that reach his desk.
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