Probing Queries from Little Hoover Commissioners? Just Wait

Virginia Ellis, the former Sacramento bureau chief of the Los Angeles Times from 2001 through 2008, was appointed January 14  by Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, a Sacramento Democrat, to the Milton Marks “Little Hoover” Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy.

A gifted and tenacious investigative reporter, Ellis, now retired, is best known for her dogged coverage of former state Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush. The stories led to Quackenbush’s resignation and, for Ellis, a 2001 Pulitizer nomination and receipt of the Selden Ring and George Polk award.

Possessor of a wry sense of humor, Ellis previously worked at the Dallas Times Herald and is cited in one of the late Molly Ivins’ books, Nothin’ But Good Times Ahead, for a series of articles she co-wrote in the early 1980s on the “chilling” conditions in Texas nursing homes. She and Ivins also worked in the statehouse bureau in Austin.

Looking for a break from the tedium of deliberations, Ellis’ fellow commissioners should considering asking her to tell a few yarns about Ivins.

The Little Hoover commission makes recommendations to the governor and Legislature for improved efficiencies and better delivery of services in the executive branch.

Ellis’ term expires January 1, 2015.

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