SIMI VALLEY : Dantona Moves to Controller’s Office

Simi Valley resident Jim Dantona has closed the doors on his government affairs consulting firm to take over his new job as special assistant to state Controller Gray Davis.

Dantona, 44, said he assumed his new position Dec. 1 but decided for personal reasons to wait until this week to make a formal announcement. He said he will be paid an annual salary of $90,000 and will split his time between Sacramento and a Westwood office.

Dantona said he is looking forward to working with the state’s chief financial officer to come up with ways to stimulate California’s economy. Davis’ office is responsible for managing state revenues and expenditures.

“I’m very excited about it,” Dantona said of his new post. “It’s going to be a real challenge.”

He said one of his first duties will be to help organize a series of economic summits up and down the state with elected officials, business people and educators to develop a plan to help jump-start the economy.

“We don’t want to just put a report together,” Dantona said. “We’re hoping to pick people’s brains to solicit new ideas that we can take and put into a workable plan. Our goal is to have something we can use.”

He said he is already busy organizing what will probably be the first economic summit in March, which will include the counties of Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. Ventura County is being considered for the site of the summit.

Before opening his own consulting firm in 1985, Dantona served as chief of staff to state Sen. David A. Roberti (D-Van Nuys) for nine years.

Dantona announced plans earlier this year to run for the Simi Valley City Council, but later dropped out of the race to go to work for President-elect Bill Clinton’s national fund-raising committee.

Dantona said it was his work with the Clinton campaign as well as his ties to Roberti that helped him land the job with the state controller’s office.