Gov. Atkins goes global

Toni Atkins ascended to the post of governor of California Wednesday, and she seized the reins of state government like a woman possessed.

Well, not quite, but Atkins did use her newly found power during her roughly nine-hour stint as the chief executive to issue a couple of proclamations, including one declaring it “Tony Gwynn Day” throughout the Golden State.

“So far, so good,” the San Diego Democrat said about three-quarters through her day as acting governor. “Nothing outrageous has happened and I am not stepping out of bounds or messing with things.”

Atkins got her turn at the pinnacle of state government because Gov. Jerry Brown was in Mexico, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom was back East and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg was in the Windy City. As Assembly speaker, Atkins is fourth in the line of succession and with everyone else outside the state boundaries she got the nod.

Her appointment, albeit temporary, generated headlines around the world proclaiming that California had its first openly gay governor.

Atkins said that particular focus on her time at the top was not unwelcome.

“It’s obviously resonating in the LGBT community,” said Atkins, who is the first Assembly Speaker from San Diego and also the first lesbian to hold the job. “Anytime there is a first it makes it special, and it does feel good.”

Atkins hands were on the reins from about 8 a.m. until Brown returned near day’s end. Her first act was to tweet out a picture of her dogs, writing her first responsibility was to make sure the “#ActingFirstDogs got their morning walk.”

At 5:30 p.m., about the time Brown was due back in Sacramento, Atkins was taping an interview with ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel from an office in San Diego for an appearance on his show Wednesday night.

“I don’t know how all this came to his attention, but he must have found it interesting for some reason,” Atkins said.

Atkins decided on Tuesday that while power wasn’t going to corrupt her, she was going to flex a little muscle by issuing the proclamation for Gwynn, the late, great San Diego Padre. She also delivered one honoring the Lambda Archives, formerly the San Diego Lesbian and Gay Archives, on the occasion of its 27th year of operation.

“What I am learning is that as governor, you can get proclamations done very quickly. Losing Tony Gwynn was huge and he has such an incredible family, so it’s something I wanted to do,” she said.

Atkins was thankful that no disasters occurred because a very big one did the last time she was an acting chief executive in 2005.

“It occurred to me today that when I was acting mayor of San Diego Hurricane Katrina happened and we had to organize a bunch of people to go the New Orleans to help,” the former deputy mayor said.

As speaker, Atkins has a one-man security detail and that’s all she had watching over her on Wednesday. And while she said enjoyed the day and that everyone was quite nice, her nephew wasn’t all that impressed.

“He is much more excited about me being on Jimmy Kimmel,” she said.

So did the experience make her lust for a more lasting time in big chair?

“Who wouldn’t want to be governor of California?” she said.