California Governor Appoints Journalist to State Librarian Position

From the LA Times:

[Governor Jerry] Brown [has] appointed Greg Lucas, 55, a former political reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, to the post. Since 2011, Lucas has been a senior editor for the Sacramento website Capitol Weekly, which provides articles on California politics, and he also writes and edits California’s Capitol, a website he created that also explores issues of state politics and history.
Lucas is the son of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Malcolm Lucas and the husband of Donna Lucas, who heads a political public relations firm and previously was a top aide to former Republican Govs. Arnold Schwarzenegger and George Deukmejian.
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Librarians were concerned that a non-librarian would be appointed as state librarian. “A former reporter? What the hell?” responded Roy B. Stone, president of the Librarians’ Guild, which represents 350 librarians in the city of Los Angeles.
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Some librarians said it appears the appointment may be in conflict with the state Education Code, which was changed in 1976 to say that the state librarian “shall be a technically trained librarian.”

Read the Complete Article
Here’s the Official Appointment Announcement (via Ca.gov)

Greg Lucas, 55, of Sacramento, has been appointed State Librarian. Lucas has been a senior editor for Capitol Weekly since 2011 and has written and edited California’s Capitol, a website he created focusing on California history and politics, since 2007. He was Sacramento bureau chief and a Capitol reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1988 to 2007 and covered the Capitol for the Los Angeles Daily Journal from 1985 to 1988. Lucas has been a board member at the Friends of the California State Archives since 2012. He earned a Master of Arts degree in professional writing from the University of Southern California. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $142,968. Lucas is a Democrat.

See Also: State Library of California News Release (PDF)

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