SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Democrat Jerry Brown was sworn in Monday as California’s 39th governor, returning to the office he left 28 years ago but inheriting a much different and more troubled state than the one he led then.
The man who once was California’s most famous bachelor took the oath of office after being introduced by his wife of five years, former Gap Inc. executive Anne Gust Brown, inside the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium.
She held a Bible that was her grandfather’s and was used during her wedding to Mr. Brown.
Mr. Brown has predicted a grim future for the financially beleaguered state. Where his predecessor, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, expressed optimism at every turn, Mr. Brown has been realistic since winning the Nov. 2 election. California has faced several years of deep budget deficits and is confronting another estimated at $28 billion through June 2012.
Its general fund is $15 billion less than it was just three years ago, reflecting a sharp drop in tax revenue from a recession that has battered the economy of the nation’s most populous state. Mr. Brown, 72, said the choices facing California’s 38.8 million people are painful.
“The year ahead will demand courage and sacrifice,” he said after taking the oath from California Supreme Court Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye.
Mr. Brown noted that the recession has taken a toll on California, and polls show most voters believe the state is on the wrong track. He urged lawmakers with both political parties to get out of what he called their “comfort zones” and to “rise above ideology” for the good of the state.
The inauguration was a scaled-down affair, reflecting the austerity of Mr. Brown, a former Jesuit seminarian and student of Buddhism. Mr. Brown’s speech lasted about 15 minutes, and the only other speaker listed on the one-page program was his wife.
Mr. Brown’s style contrasts with that of past governors, some of whom held inaugural balls after their swearing-in ceremony. Mr. Schwarzenegger even threw himself what he called a “wrap party” last month to celebrate his seven years in office, complete with some of his Hollywood buddies.
Even during Mr. Brown’s first term as governor, he preached an era of limits, saying government cannot deliver everything people expect from it. He lived that philosophy himself, ditching the governor’s mansion for a sparsely furnished apartment and driving a Plymouth instead of riding in a limousine.
Mr. Schwarzenegger and former first lady Maria Shriver, former Gov. Gray Davis, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were among the roughly 3,000 people attending.
After winning office last fall, Mr. Brown promised to travel California and hold what he called a civic dialogue about what Californians want from their government and what they are willing to pay for it. After voters rejected an $18-a-year license fee to stabilize state park funding, Mr. Brown declared that Californians were “in no mood to add to their burdens.”
Yet his press aides have not quashed speculation that Mr. Brown will try to call a special election this spring to extend a set of temporary tax increases approved in 2009. Mr. Brown said he would not raise taxes without voter approval, but he will need some Republican help to reach the two-thirds legislative vote necessary to place any tax or fee measure on the ballot.
Mr. Brown responded to reporters’ questions about a possible special election as he left the auditorium.
“I’ll confer with the legislative leaders, and we’ll work something out that makes sense, but we don’t have a lot of time, and we’ve got to cover a lot of ground,” Mr. Brown said before heading into his nearby rented loft.
The new governor will release his budget proposal for the coming fiscal year next Monday, when he is expected to deliver voters a series of stark choices. He said his budgets would not contain “smoke and mirrors,” an apparent reference to spending plans signed by Mr. Schwarzenegger over the past few years that often contained accounting gimmicks and unrealistic revenue assumptions as a way to balance the budgets on paper.
He promised his version would be painful.
“It’s a tough budget for tough times,” he said.
Mr. Brown was engaged in the budget problem even before his official swearing-in, visiting lawmakers and finance experts frequently and holding town-hall sessions in Sacramento and Los Angeles to discuss the health of California’s finances and public school system.
Mr. Brown is the son of former two-term Gov. Edmund G. Brown and has spent a lifetime in politics, including terms as the secretary of state, attorney general and mayor of Oakland. He also will be calling upon a set of skills learned outside the political arena as he tries to negotiate with a Legislature that has grown increasingly partisan and, in many cases, hostile.
His years practicing Buddhism in Japan and working with Mother Teresa in India may come in handy as he tries to broker deals with dug-in lawmakers. Term limits in the Legislature mean many of them have little experience and are eyeing their next office with every vote they take.
He preached a spirit of bipartisanship to solve California’s many problems but also said he would not have patience for those who drew lines in the sand.
“At this stage of my life, I’ve not come here to embrace delay and denial,” he said during his speech.
Mr. Brown became only the second person to serve three terms as California’s governor when he took over from Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican who won office in a 2003 recall election. Mr. Brown’s tenure as the 34th governor, from 1975 to 1983, was before voter-imposed term limits, allowing Mr. Brown to seek the office again this year.
He also is the second oldest person to hold the office — behind Gov. Frank Merriam, who tackled budget deficits during the Great Depression and turned 74 during his final weeks in office in 1939.
During his previous two terms, Mr. Brown was criticized for being distracted by his continual pursuit of higher office. He sought the Democratic presidential nominations in 1976 and 1980, then lost a bid for U.S. Senate in 1982.
This time around, he said he’s too old to run for higher office. But after introducing his 98-year-old aunt, Connie Carlson, Mr. Brown offered a caution for those already eyeing his office.
“By the way, those of you who are hankering after my job, it may be a while. So relax. God willing, the genes are good,” he said.
Brown adviser Steve Glazer said he was unsure of Mr. Brown’s plans for his first day on the job. He could drop by any number of celebrations around town, visit the governor’s office or even his rented condo across the street from the auditorium.
A late-afternoon reception was planned for the California Railroad Museum in the Old Sacramento tourist section, but all inaugural festivities were expected to cost less than $100,000.
Associated Press writers Tom Verdin, Daisy Nguyen and Judy Lin contributed to this report.
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