SO WHO WILL JOIN ARNOLD? GOVERNOR-ELECT ACTING WITH HASTE TO PICK HIS TEAM.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

The Sacramento stampede is on - thousands of people want to work for Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger's new administration.

Even as Gov. Gray Davis and his administration have started packing up and dusting off resumes, Schwarzenegger's transition team has gotten 4,500 applications for jobs, most of them coming through his Web site, www.joinarnold.com.

He has approximately 850 full-time positions to fill, plus spots on 275 boards and commissions, which typically have seven to 15 members per board, according to Karen Hanretty, spokeswoman for the Schwarzenegger transition team.

But even though Davis was booted from office, don't expect to see a wholesale replacement of his team.

``It is not uncommon in past administrations that you have carry-over from one administration to the other,'' Hanretty said. ``I would assume that we may see some carry-over from the Davis administration. Certainly there were (former Gov. Pete) Wilson appointees who carried over into the Davis administration.''

The two most important positions he has to fill - and the ones expected to be named first - are chief of staff and finance director.

Half a dozen names have been floated for those posts, including members of the transition team, such as former Assemblyman Dean Andal and former Representative Bob Baker, who are considered possible finance director candidates.

Donna Arduin, who is Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's finance director and is on loan to Schwarzenegger for a few months to run an audit of the state's finances, is also considered a contender for the finance director post.

Meanwhile, members of the current administration are making plans to vacate the Capitol and sending out their own resumes. Under Davis' order, they are also cooperating with the new administration.

``We're hunkered down and packing boxes and writing memos - and leaving all the S's on the keyboards,'' said Davis spokesman Steve Maviglio, referring to former President Clinton's staff infamously removing W's from computer keyboards before George W. Bush took office.

Staff members, he said, are going through a wide range of emotions.

``People are shell-shocked-slash-relieved that it's finally over. On the other hand, we're one family that's worked together for a long time, long hours, hard work - and it's not easy to let that go.''

Since the election, Schwarzenegger has been primarily working out of what was his Santa Monica campaign office, but this week will be in Sacramento, where his transition office is located.

He has yet to decide about his residency in the Sacramento area. While his family is expected to stay in Los Angeles, he is expected to be in Sacramento at least several days a week and will likely look for a house that can fit his six-member family when they visit, rather than use the modest existing governor's residence. Similarly, Davis continued to consider Los Angeles his home and did much of his work in the governor's office here.

A 66-member transition team comprised of prominent politicians and business leaders from both parties has been working to forward hundreds of names of potential administration appointees to the transition staff for evaluation. The team includes a wide array of viewpoints, ranging from fiscal conservatives like Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association to Democratic stalwart San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown Jr.

Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn, a member of the transition team, said he has been fielding calls from friends and supporters recommending names and that he expects to forward his list this week.

``I'm not going to be looking for Republicans or Democrats, I'm just looking for the best people,'' Hahn said. ``I have a lot of friends of mine, supporters of mine who were very strong Republicans, who are calling me and suggesting names, and I have friends who are Democrats who are doing the same.''

Hahn has worked with Schwarzenegger in the past through the actor's after-school programs, which had office space at City Hall. Schwarzenegger attended Hahn's inauguration in 2001 and accompanied a delegation of city officials to Asia last year to help promote tourism and trade with Los Angeles.

Hahn hopes to have a close relationship with the new governor, in particular because of a critical revenue issue facing the city.

Schwarzenegger has promised that his first act as governor would be to repeal the increase of the vehicle license fee, a move that concerns Hahn because the fee provides funding to local governments for police and fire services. Hahn remains optimistic that even if the VLF is reduced, the city will maintain its funding.

``We've spoken a couple times about this, both during the election and since,'' Hahn said. ``Governor-elect Schwarzenegger told me just the other day that it's not his desire to do anything that would hurt local government's ability to provide public safety services.''

Schwarzenegger will face a deficit that could range from $8 billion to $20 billion and has to submit his first budget proposal in January. He has promised to lower the vehicle license fee, which was recently tripled to bring in $4 billion extra, and to spare education, which is 40 percent of the state budget. He has also promised to not raise taxes except in case of natural disaster or terrorist attack - all steps that will severely limit his ability to balance the budget.

Still, Coupal believes it can be done.

``I think in the short term it's going to be challenging,'' Coupal said. ``Not impossible. It's easier moving up the long term. There are some - what I characterize as the 'low-hanging fruit' on the expenditure side - some of the blatant Medi-Cal fraud we could take care of very quickly. This auditor will be very helpful in that process.''

Working in his favor are revenue projections that are higher than expected and an economy that might have turned a corner, Coupal said.

When Schwarzenegger takes office, he is going to have to rely on the Democratic-controlled Senate to confirm many of his top-level appointments.

Political observers say that task is made easier because some of them were not friendly with Davis, despite sharing the party affiliation, and because Schwarzenegger won by a significant margin and has shown a willingness to work with Democrats.

``If Gray Davis were a beloved figure, the resentment for Schwarzenegger would be much greater,'' said Jack Pitney, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College.

``Even if you're a Democratic state legislator, your kids may be bugging you to get your picture taken with the Terminator.''

Sen. Richard Alarcon, D-Van Nuys, the Senate majority whip, said new governors generally get ``wide latitude'' on their appointments, although he expects there will be least a few that will be controversial. The appointments are generally reviewed by the Senate's Rules Committee, which is chaired by Senate President pro tem John Burton, with input from other committee chairs depending on the position.

Alarcon said he doesn't sense any lingering resentment or need for revenge over the ousting of the Democratic governor.

``We had a caucus and there wasn't any discussion about any form of retaliation or anything like that,'' Alarcon said.

Davis has had discussions with Senate Democrats about coming back into session before the end of his term so they can confirm his appointments.

Davis still has about 100 appointments he could make that require Senate confirmation. Most of them are relatively low-profile positions, with the highest profile being the Agricultural and Labor Relations Board, which has a six-figure salary, the Board of Prison Terms and the Gambling Control Commission.

Democrats are divided over whether it is appropriate to confirm last-minute appointments of a governor who was removed from office before his term expires, and Schwarzenegger has said he believes Davis should stop making appointments.

Alarcon, for one, said he supports Davis' ability to continue making appointments.

``Just because he was recalled on a vote on Oct. 7, what's he supposed to do: sit around twiddling his thumbs?''

Harrison Sheppard, [phone]

harrison.sheppard(at)dailynews.com