From OpinionJournal:

The 'Terminator' Finds His Terminator

Donna Arduin is a 40-year-old wunderkind who has helped Republican governors in three states cure their fiscal woes. She currently serves as budget director for Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Now she has been tapped by Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger to take a leave of absence and head his audit of California's sprawling $100 billion state budget.

Most budget experts I spoke with say the "Governator" couldn't have picked a better--and tougher--watchdog.

The incoming governor faces a daunting task. He must prepare a new budget for submission by January 10. Even some Democrats agree the state's books need a thorough cleansing--i.e. that Arnold's campaign call for a "thorough audit" was more than a gimmick.

"We all know the state's finances are in a mess," says Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla, a moderate Democrat. "If he wants an independent review, I think he's certainly entitled to that."

Ms. Arduin is up to the task. She previously worked in the budget offices of New York Governor George Pataki and Michigan Governor John Engler. After she moved to Florida in 1999 to head up Governor Bush's budget office, she quickly became both respected and controversial. She won grudging respect from Florida legislators by implementing a performance-based budgeting system that measured what state agencies produced rather than just how much they spent. Yet she appalled state pork barrelers by weeding out $300 million in pet projects for Governor Bush to veto.

"She knows how to go through a budget with a fine-toothed comb and find every dollar," says Florida House Speaker Johnnie Byrd. He called Mr. Schwarzenegger's decision to hire her on a temporary basis "probably one of the best moves he could ever make."

Sounds like the state's citizen governor is off to a good start in picking talented people to advise him. Didn't some other former governor named Ronald Reagan, once denigrated as a "mere actor," develop a similar reputation and go on to accomplish great things?