CAPITOL NOTEBOOK: DAVIS SHILLS C-17S; SCRIBES FEEL THE FUNK.

Byline: Terri Hardy and Dorothy Korber

GOV. Gray Davis sounded like he was having a great time in London last week during a telephone press conference with reporters, stuck at their desks in Sacramento.

On the first leg of a two-week foreign mission, Davis said he was staying in the U.S. ambassador's residence, lunching with CEOs from British Airways and Rolls-Royce, and partying with UC alumni and other California expatriates.

During a meeting with Great Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, Davis did some schmoozing about the attributes of the C-17, the Boeing military transport plane built in Long Beach. The governor tried to convince Blair that raffish Royal Air Force pilots would look great behind the controls of a behemoth C-17.

``I asked him who the competitors with the C-17 were,'' Davis recounted. ``He said there were no competitors. So I said he should buy a few.

``They go for about $200 million a copy,'' the governor added, casually slipping in a bit of aerospace jargon.

But the most entertaining moment of the London teleconference occurred before the governor ever opened his mouth. During the long wait for Davis to come on the line, a dozen dozing reporters were suddenly jerked awake by the Wild Cherry hit song ``Play that Funky Music, White Boy'' when someone put the call on hold.

Take our advice, Mr. Governor: Stick with ``Happy Days are Here Again.''

Get the smog out

While in Britain, Davis issued an order to the state Department of Motor Vehicles to immediately suspend collection of the state's $300 smog impact fee, collected from residents who bring cars in from another state.

The action came in response to a decision by the 3rd District Court of Appeal declaring that the fee violated the U.S. Constitution.

Davis also directed Maria Contreras Sweet, secretary of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, to analyze the court's decision. One member of the state Board of Equalization already is saying the governor should drop any plans for appealing to the state Supreme Court because the state's case is weak.

Healthy challenge

Diana Bonta, new head of the California Department of Health Services, made the A-list this month as one of Hispanic Business magazine's 100 Most Influential Hispanics for 1999.

It's not surprising that the former Long Beach public health director is on the list. She runs an agency with a $22 billion budget. (She could buy 100 copies of the C-17 and have change to spare.) Her department's biggest responsibility is Medi-Cal, which provides health care to low-income families.

Bonta oversees a diverse domain: cancer research, infant botulism, mosquito-borne disease, smoking prevention, tuberculosis control, AIDS drug assistance.

But the influential Dr. Bonta's biggest challenge may come in the area of environmental health, as she struggles with the effects of polluted water and toxic schoolyards.

Earlier this month, a state investigation found that the agency had inappropriately kept a cancer survey of residents living near Rocketdyne's Santa Susana Laboratory under wraps and lied to the public. The probe found that contrary to public desire, the agency never intended to go through with a rigorous community health study.

Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl, D-Encino, an agency critic who had suggested the appointment of Bonta, said she is happy with the new director and now, armed with the investigation's findings, it's time for Bonta to clean house.