Gov. Schwarzenegger Appoints Mayor O'Neill To Advisory Panel On Increasing Gov't Efficiency & Reducing Costs

Beverly O'Neill is currently serving her third consecutive term as mayor of Long Beach; first elected in 1994, she won in 1998 with 80 percent of the vote and then again in 2002 as a write-in candidate. She has fought to redevelop closed Naval properties and secured funding for the Alameda Corridor transportation project. She is vice president of the United States Conference of Mayors, and will become president of the national mayor's group in 2005. Before she became mayor, Dr. O'Neill had a 31-year career at Long Beach City College, beginning as an instructor and ending as superintendent-president of the College. O'Neill received her bachelor's degree from the California State University, Long Beach, undertook post-graduate work at the University of Vienna, and received her doctorate from the University of Southern California.

Joanne Kozberg will serve as co-chair of the Commission. She currently serves as a partner in California Strategies, a public affairs consulting firm, and is serving a 12-year term on the University of California Board of Regents. Previously, she served as president and chief operating officer of the Music Center of Los Angeles County, California's Secretary of State and Consumer Services, executive director of the California Arts Council, executive director of the Coro Foundation in Southern California, and Southern California Director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. She received her bachelor's degree in history from the University of California, Berkeley and her master's degree in public policy from Occidental College.

William Hauck will serve as co-chair of the Commission. He is currently president of the Sacramento based California Business Roundtable, a statewide, non-partisan organization composed of chief executive officers of California's leading corporations. He also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the California State University system, as chairman of the Board's Finance Committee, and on the Board of Directors of Blue Shield of California. He is also a founder and a member of the Board of Directors of Information for Public Affairs Inc. Previously, he served as chairman of the California Constitution Revision Commission and deputy chief of staff for Governor Pete Wilson. Mr. Hauck graduated from San Jose State University and participated in the CORO Foundation Internship in Public Affairs.

Commissioners:

Senator James Brulte is a 14-year veteran of the Legislature representing the 31st Senate district. He served as the Senate Republican leader from April 2000 to May 2004. Throughout his service in the Legislature Senator Brulte has been the recognized Republican expert on fiscal issues and has been the lead negotiator on several state budgets. His experience in government also includes service on the staff of U.S. Senator S.I. Hayakawa as well as work in the Reagan/Bush Administration. In 1974, Senator Brulte enlisted in the California Air National Guard where he was later honored as "Outstanding Airman of the Year" for the United States and its territories. Senator Brulte graduated from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Assemblywoman Patricia Bates was elected to the Assembly in 1998 representing the 73rd Assembly district. Prior to her election, she served for nearly a decade as a four-term mayor and later city council member for the City of Laguna Niguel. Assemblywoman Bates began her professional career as a social caseworker in Southern Central Los Angeles for the Los Angeles County Department of Social Services. She went on to serve as director for the Aged, Blind and Disabled categorical aid programs for the Department. She left county service in 1973 to join her husband in establishing his architecture practice in Orange County and continues to serve as administrative partner in this family owned business. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Occidental College and continued her studies as a graduate student at California State University, Long Beach.

Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny was elected to the California State Senate in 2002, representing the 40th Senate district. Prior to her election to the Senate, she served in the California State Assembly from 1994 to 2000. From 2000 to 2002, Senator Ducheny served as: a presidential fellow at San Diego State University, board member of the San Diego Natural History Museum, trustee of the Anza-Borrego State Park Foundation, commissioner for the State Commission on the Californias, commissioner for the San Diego County Regional Governance Efficiency Commission and member of the California Border Environmental Co-operation Commission. Before her election to the Legislature, Senator Ducheny served as an elected trustee of the governing board of the San Diego Community College District, as a member of the board of directors of the California Community College Trustees Association, and as founder and chair of the Association of Latino Community College Trustees. She earned a Juris Doctorate from the Southwestern University School of Law and is a graduate of Pomona College with a Bachelor of Arts in History.

Assemblyman Leland Yee was elected to represent the 12th Assembly district in 2002. Prior to his election to the Assembly, Dr. Yee spent eight years on the San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education. Following his service on the School Board, Dr. Yee was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1996. Dr. Yee earned his bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley and his Master's degree from San Francisco State University. After earning his Doctorate degree in child psychology at the University of Hawaii, Dr. Yee worked in various mental health and school settings.

Jay Benton is executive vice president of ABM Industries Incorporated, having just stepped down as the Company's chief operating officer. He is currently the co-chairman of the Expert Review Panel for the State of California Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency and serves on the board of the Committee on Jobs. He is also a former chairman of the board of the YMCA of San Francisco. Benton is a graduate of the Young Presidents Organization and is active in the World Presidents Organization.

Dale E. Bonner is a partner at Epstein Becker & Green, P.C., in the firm's Los Angeles office. He is a member of the firm's National Health Law Practice and Government Contracts and Technology Group. He served as commissioner of the California Department of Corporations, general counsel to the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, and deputy general counsel to Governor Pete Wilson. He received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Southern California and earned his Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University School of Law. Bonner sits on the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission and the Health Law Committee of the California State Bar.

James E. Canales was appointed as the president and chief executive officer of the James Irvine Foundation in May 2003. He was formerly vice president and corporate secretary at the Irvine Foundation responsible for oversight of the Foundation's grant making programs, communications and evaluation functions. He has also served as special assistant to the president, program officer, and chief administrative officer and corporate secretary. Prior to joining the Foundation, he was an English teacher and director of admissions and financial aid at San Francisco University High School. Canales graduated from Stanford University with an undergraduate degree in English and a graduate degree in Education.

Mike Carona has led the Orange County Sheriff's Department, the 5th largest in the nation, since 1998. He serves as a member of the Department of Homeland Security's Senior Advisory Committee for emergency service responders, where he is one of 15 members reporting to Secretary Ridge. He is also author of "Save My Son," a story of a mother and a sheriff who unite to reclaim the lives of addicted offenders. He began his career in law enforcement in 1977.

Patricia Dando served on the San Jose city council for eight years before she was appointed vice mayor in 2003. She initiated a county-wide anti-graffiti program that has been widely copied and was appointed in 2002 to the National League of Cities' Homeland Security Task Force. Dando is the creator of the Neighborhoods FIRST! program, which combines community service and neighborhood beautification. Prior to her election to the city council, Dando worked for the Mayor's Office and the San Jose Redevelopment Agency focusing on land-use planning and redevelopment policy. She serves as chair of the League of California Cities Transportation Communication and Pubic Works Committee and the National League of Cities Transportation Infrastructure and Services Committee. Before her election, she served as a teacher. Dando received her bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and English from North Texas State University and is a graduate of Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

David Davenport is a distinguished professor of public policy and law. Davenport, who served as Pepperdine's chief executive for 15 years, is currently a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. He teaches courses in both Pepperdine's School of Law and the University's School of Public Policy. He was the sixth president of Pepperdine, serving from 1985 to 2000. Prior to that, he held positions as professor of law, general counsel, and executive vice president of the University. He was instrumental in the founding of Pepperdine's School of Public Policy and the Davenport Institute within the School is named in his honor. Davenport has extensive involvement in various public programs. He is a director of the National Legal Center for the Public Interest in Washington, D.C., was director of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, and is a founder of the National School Safety Center, a partnership of the U.S. Department of Education, the Department of Justice and Pepperdine University. He was a member of the Council of Trustees of LEARN, the California Education Roundtable, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Education Committee, and the Education Working Group. He also directed the California and Los Angeles Chambers of Commerce. Davenport earned a bachelor's degree in international relations from Stanford University in 1972 and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1977.

Joel Fox is the president of the Small Business Action Committee. He served as president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association in Los Angeles from 1986 to 1998, and played an important role in several statewide and local proposition campaigns including Proposition 218, the 'Right to Vote on Taxes' measure. During the recall election, Fox served as a senior policy consultant to Arnold Schwarzenegger. He also served as director of policy for the Riordan for Governor Campaign and sat on both the California Assembly Speaker's Commission on the California Initiative Process and the Speaker's Commission on State and Local Finance.

Dr. Steve Frates is a senior fellow at the Rose Institute of State and Local Government at Claremont-McKenna College. He has served as an assistant in municipal government, as the head of a major metropolitan taxpayer association, and on the California Constitutional Revision Commission. Dr. Frates has been a faculty member at the University of Colorado and the University of Southern California, and has lectured at other universities and colleges. Dr. Frates received his bachelor's degree from Claremont-McKenna College and his doctorate from the University of Southern California.

Russ Gould, president of the Gould Group, advises governmental entities and corporations on complex financial issues. He is also a member of the California Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Previously, Gould was an official in the Wilson administration, serving as first Health and Welfare Secretary. In that post, Gould ran the nation's second largest healthcare system and oversaw the difficult budget cuts as a result of the early 1990s recession and the first pass at welfare reform in California, long before it emerged as a national issue. At the same time he helped Governor Wilson fashion a "preventive agenda" aimed at getting kids off to a good start in life with prenatal care, early childhood health care and other school-based programs. He later served in the Wilson administration as director of the California Department of Finance and is a former Regent of the University of California.

Irene Ibarra is executive vice president of The California Endowment. She is an attorney who has practiced corporate and business law. Previously, she was director of Los Angeles Health Action and chief executive officer of the Alameda Alliance for Health. Ibarra currently serves on several boards, including the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health, the Blue Shield of California Foundation and Casey Family Programs Foundation. In addition, she served in Colorado Governor Roy Romer's cabinet for more than four years as executive director of the State Department for Health and Human Services. In this capacity, she was responsible for statewide health and human service programs including Medicaid, managed care programs, and children and family services.

J.J. Jelincic currently serves as the president of the California State Employees Association, a position he has held since he was elected in November 2003. He has also served as investment officer at the California Public Employee Retirement System (CalPERS) since 1986, where he has worked in the fields of fixed income research, corporate governance and stock trading. He is a two-time chair of Unit 1, representing more than 43,000 employment program representatives at the Employment Development Department, disability evaluators at the Department of Health Services, accounting officers, auditors and analysts for all departments. Prior to joining state service, Jelincic worked for the Hibernia Bank in San Francisco, Ryerson Steel and as a garbage collector for Oakland Scavenger. He earned his bachelor's degree from St. Mary's College of California and his M.B.A. from Golden Gate University in San Francisco.

Steven A. Olsen is the vice chancellor for Finance and Budget at the University of California, Los Angeles. He previously served as: a budget and legislative analyst, a fiscal advisor to the California Senate, deputy director of the California Department of Finance, and chief deputy director of the California Department of General Services. He received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles and a master's from the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Public Policy.

Peter Taylor is currently managing director with Lehman Brothers, Inc., and is the leader of the public finance department. Previously, he served as a manager with GTE California, executive director of the Coro Foundation and worked for six years as a staff member of the California State Assembly. Mr. Taylor's community involvement includes: service on the board of directors of the Irvine Foundation, ex officio Regent of the University of California, president of the University of California, Los Angeles Foundation, past president of the University of California, Los Angeles Alumni Association, the Los Angeles Conservation Corps, ARTS, Inc, and El Centro del Pueblo. Taylor graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles and earned his Master's degree in public policy analysis from Claremont Graduate School.

Carol Whiteside is the president of the Great Valley Center, an organization she founded in August 1997 to promote the economic, social and environmental well-being of California's Central Valley. Whiteside served as the director of intergovernmental affairs for Governor Pete Wilson on issues of land use, finance, and restructuring and economic development. She was assistant secretary at the California Resources Agency and specialized in resource conservation, land use, and growth management issues. Whiteside also served on the Modesto City Schools' Board of Education, the Modesto City Council, and was elected mayor in 1987. Whiteside is a graduate of the University of California, Davis. She serves on the Speaker's Commission on State & Local Government Finance and the Speaker's Commission on Regions. She is a member of the board of directors of the Public Policy Institute of California.