Texarkana Gazette

Gregory Schmidt, California Senate secretary, dies

-

SACRAMENTO, Calif.— Gregory Schmidt, a longtime secretary of the California Senate, has died just two years after retiring from the post he held for 18 years. He was 69.

"Greg lived an extraordin­ary life of public service that witnessed, shepherded and safeguarde­d 18 years of California legislativ­e history at the helm of the California State Senate," former Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, a Sacramento Democrat, said in a written statement.

The Sacramento Bee reported that Schmidt died after a brief battle with cancer.

He was first nominated to the post by then-Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer in 1996 then re-appointed under three successive Senate presidents.

He was in charge of everything from processing bills to ensuring rules were followed.

Current Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, a Los Angeles Democrat, says Schmidt served as a steady, calming presence for elected members and staff, and he rarely got rattled.

"Greg was the highest-ranking staffer in the Senate but he was always humble. He never forgot that all of us were just regular people serving the people of California," de Leon said in a written statement.

Schmidt retired in 2014 amid an investigat­ion into reports of nepotism in the Senate's hiring practices. Schmidt's son, daughter-in-law and nephew all had jobs in the state Legislatur­e, as did five family members of the Senate's human resources director.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States