California Insider

Public relations exec Donna Lucas has joined the Schwarzenegger transition staff as an aide to Maria Shriver. Lucas, a partner in the Porter Novelli International PR firm, is taking a three-week leave from the company to work as a volunteer on the transition staff, where she will help Shriver set up her own staff and establish the priorities on which she will concentrate as First Lady. Lucas was a press aide to former Gov. George Deukmejian and press secretary for George Bush's 1988 presidential campaign in California (the last Republican to win the state) before building a successful Sacramento public relations firm that eventually was bought by Porter Novelli. She is married to San Francisco Chronicle reporter Greg Lucas.

Democrat state Sen. Dean Florez, who as chairman of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee helped disclose the details behind the Oracle computer software foul-up, is working with Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger to find more waste and abuse in the state budget. Florez, never shy about publicity, tells me Schwarzenegger called him at home last week, and they spoke about the Oracle deal and the possibility of finding more problems deep within the state bureaucracy. Florez followed up with a short conversation with Schwarzenegger’s auditor, Donna Arduin, and the two plan to meet on Tuesday. Florez also has sent Schwarzenegger a six-page letter urging him to look at state overtime abuses, procurement practices, technology purchases, surplus property, and the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Corrections. The senator, who fell out of favor with Gray Davis after harshly criticizing his fellow Democrat over the Oracle debacle, told the new governor he could probably save at least $1 billion by following the Florez roadmap.

While the governor-elect is waiting for Florida budget chief Donna Arduin to complete her audit of California's books, he might want to review Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill's latest 77-page take on the budget, the shortfall, how we got here and what the outlook is for 04-05. You can find it here.