An end to state parks’ star turn?
NeverMIND the budget deficit. In a matter with substantial implications for Earth and stars, one of Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first duties may be deciding whether to say hasta la vista to a pair of state Park and Recreation commissioners named Eastwood and Shriver.
Clint Eastwood has served on the nine-seat state commission since Gov. Gray Davis appointed the actor-director in late 2001. His term expires Jan. 15, and the new governor gets to choose who will occupy the job next. Eastwood, who has declined to say whether he’ll seek reappointment, may be asking himself: “Do I feel lucky?”
Eastwood isn’t the only commissioner with show business connections. Commission Chairwoman Caryl O. Hart, an attorney from Sonoma County, is married to Mickey Hart, longtime drummer for the Grateful Dead. Commissioner Paul Junger Witt is a veteran film and television producer whose credits include “Dead Poets Society” and “Three Kings.”
And then there’s commissioner Bobby Shriver, a Santa Monica attorney who has worked as a journalist and television producer -- and is Schwarzenegger’s brother-in-law.
“If the governor were pleased to reappoint me,” said Shriver, “I’d be pleased to serve.”
The commissioners, unpaid, steer the $275-million-a-year state Department of Parks and Recreation, which operates more than 270 park sites statewide.
-- Christopher
Reynolds
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