From the Los Angeles Times: Nov 4 2003
Schwarzenegger Names 4 More to Staff
By Marisa Lagos
Times Staff Writer
12:54 PM PST, November 4, 2003
Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed four more people to his Sacramento staff today, including naming Bonnie Reiss — a Democrat and outspoken environmentalist — as his senior advisor.
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Schwarzenegger called Reiss' appointment, sure to turn heads in conservative circles, proof of his commitment to a diverse staff. He has been friends with Reiss — at times an entertainment lawyer, accountant, producer and writer — for "nearly a quarter of a century," the governor-elect said in a statement.
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Reiss, 48, founded the Earth Communications Office in 1988, an organization which draws on resources from the entertainment industry to create "public service campaigns that educate and inspire people around the world to take action to protect the planet," according to the group's web site. Much of the groups' work focuses on increasing awareness of these issues within the entertainment industry.
The Democrat has also worked closely with Schwarzenegger on two of his non-profits to benefit school children. She worked on U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy's 1980 presidential campaign, and, according to an article published in the California Political Review Sept. 10, "has long been an influential, highly effective leader of Hollywood's environmentalists, working with Norman Lear before forming her own organization promoting a broadly anti-market, anti-property political agenda."
That story, printed about a month before the recall, characterized the liberal Reiss as a "possible embarrassment" to Schwarzenegger as he attempted to garner GOP support.
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More:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-110403arnold_lat,1,5373939.story?coll=la-home-headlines