Deja vu for ex-Gov. Davis as budget drama unfolds
Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, July 2, 2009

(07-02) 18:56 PDT Sacramento --

The last time California issued IOUs, Gray Davis was the state controller who made the controversial call. It was 1992 and such a drastic step hadn't been taken since the Great Depression.

Two years later, Davis was elected lieutenant governor and in 1998, governor. In 2003, a year after winning re-election, he was ousted in a recall campaign by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who promised voters he would fix the state's broken finances. At the time, he criticized the budget Davis had signed as having "more special effects than 'Terminator III.' "

So, what does Davis, 66, have to say about the current state of affairs in Sacramento?

The former governor told The Chronicle he is "thrilled" not to be in Sacramento as state leaders try to break a stalemate over California's finances. "I've seen this movie before," Davis said.

snip...
Q: Do you think the 2003 recall of you as governor has played any part in getting the state to this point?

A: (Long pause). Every governor is faced with an economic challenge if they serve long enough. ... It's hard for me to know what role the recall played. Clearly, the fiscal management of the state was an issue in the campaign, but I stand by what I did. We reduced taxes overall and created jobs. (Schwarzenegger) faces a much more severe economic crisis than I did. Nobody seems to understand that the economy is like the tide. When you're in high tide no one thinks low tide is coming. Sometimes a crisis requires people to rethink how we got in this mess. That's a healthy process.


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