Newsom, 51, has more than a month until his Jan. 7 inauguration as California’s chief executive. Five years ago, he wrote a book on tech, Citizenville: How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government, which looked at how technology could and was being used to solve state and local public-sector issues; and his own advocacy for open data, transparency and collaboration.
To quickly empower his new organization, the outgoing lieutenant governor has circled in at least 25 current and former congressional representatives, state senators, state officials, county leaders and mayors from around the state to what his administration has termed the “'All in California' Ambassador Program.” They’ll be consulted to “source more ideas and more perspectives” and reach a more diverse cross-section of Californians, the administration said in a news release. The list includes:
• Deep representation from the city and county of Los Angeles. There are county Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Hilda Solis; while Mayor Eric Garcetti has joined from the city. Both the city and county are powerhouses in tech and innovation. The county’s new central Enterprise Content Management system, founded on the Documentum platform, recently linked a new, all-digital investigations system to appeals management and personnel. On the horizon is connecting in the advocacy information system. Garcetti’s presence, meanwhile, enables the new governor to reach a talent reservoir that includes Amanda Daflos, head of the mayor’s innovation team, Deputy CIO Jeanne Holm and CIO Ted Ross. They're all leaders of tech endeavors ranging from chatbot deployments to the enabling of real-time data access.
• Newsom tapped Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia to join the team. Garcia leads a government that in October established an Office of Civic Innovation within the City Manager’s Office to work with other city departments. The city is also serious about data sharing, and used an online map last year to seek input on policies about noise and land use in the city.
Garcia said he was “excited and honored” to join the team, which he described as “focused on building a people-powered state.” Other mayors on the team include San Francisco's London Breed; Willie Brown — like Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor; Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf; Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg; Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs; and the retired mayors of Fresno and Los Angeles, Ashley Swearengin and Antonio Villaraigosa, respectively. Also, in a tweet, Swearengin described this as a “pivotal” time for the Central Valley and said she was “pleased to offer input” to the team.
Tubbs told The Record in Stockton that the team will meet weekly, either via telephone or in person.
• Newsom is also leaning heavily on state and national elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco; retired U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez; and retired state Sens. John Burton and Christine Kehoe. He’s also included retired state school superintendent Delaine Eastin; and from current state leaders, Secretary of State Alex Padilla, Treasurer John Chiang and Controller Betty Yee.
“These respected leaders will help me as I search for innovative ideas and talent across this state,” Newsom said in a statement, calling his government “your administration” for all Californians.
