Interesting tidbit out of Sacramento today. Capitol Weekly reports that the governor’s press office, which oversees a press corps that has shrunk dramatically in the last decade or so, will be moving back to its old digs, close to the governor’s office, after years in the statehouse boonies.
The governor’s press office, banished to an outer Capitol corridor decades ago, is moving back into the inner sanctum known as the Horseshoe, a few doors from the governor’s personal office.
Capitol sources said the change is expected to be made by the end of the month and will coincide with the arrival of Brown’s new press secretary, Gil Duran, on Feb. 1.
Reasons for the move are a touch bleak for the governor’s staff (less so for the state’s bottom line).
Brown spokesman Steve Glazer, responding to a reporter’s inquiry, said the timing had not yet been decided. But he said the change was tentatively approved in part because there was space available resulting from Brown’s decision to cut his office staff by 25 percent.
“We’ve slimmed down dramatically the governor’s staff and that has given us a number of empty offices in the Horseshoe,” Glazer said.
Reporter John Howard writes:
The move is emblematic of Brown’s dealings with the press: He reads reporters’ stories, listens to their broadcasts and frequently—and personally—complains about coverage. He also likes to know who’s covering what. And putting the press office near his own suite accomplishes the old maxim about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer.
Let’s see if they’re not moved back outta there in a year or two when the honeymoon’s over and Brown changes his tune on the noise coming from down the hallway.
