Governor Jerry Brown
Governor Jerry Brown, a Democrat, is returning $7 million to the state’s treasury and cutting his office budget by 25 percent. According to an article in the January 8, 2011, edition of the San Francisco Chronicle:
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.
So, if a Democrat can do it, how about our four Republican members of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors? Do you all really need deputy chiefs of staff, district directors, or media relations staff? Do you really need more than one field office? We think not.
