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Sutter Brown’s bark still rings in Kathleen Brown’s ears

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This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Kathleen Brown is the former state treasurer and Democratic Party gubernatorial standard bearer, not to mention sister of the current governor. But her most important role in state history, at least as seen through the modern media, may be as the former owner of California ‘First Dog’ Sutter.

Kathleen Brown, now an executive at Goldman Sachs, left California for Chicago after Jerry Brown was elected in 2010 to avoid any potential conflicts with her brother’s work. Kathleen Brown’s Goldman portfolio focuses heavily on public financing of infrastructure projects.

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When she went, she left behind her Pembroke Welsh corgi in the care of brother Jerry and his wife Anne. The first couple had just lost their dog, a blackLabrador named Dharma, and as he came into office, Jerry Brown gave Sutter a public audition for first dog.

The rest, as they say, is history. Sutter passed the test, and is now a constant presence in the governor’s office, scrounging for scraps in the trash cans of gubernatorial staffers in their Capitol offices.

While Sutter is now a big-time star, complete with his own line of merchandise and Twitter account, Kathleen Brown still carries memories of her former pooch. The dog’s bark, she said, is her cellphone ringtone.

Gov. Brown stopped in Chicago to stay with his sister en route to Washington, where he will be through Monday. Like her brother, Kathleen Brown was at the National Governors Assn. meeting Saturday, though she said she was returning to Chicago on Saturday afternoon.

Gov. Brown will also be meeting with the state’s congressional delegation in Washington.

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California gets a new first dog

Should Jerry Brown’s dog fill in at Sacramento Press Club?

--Anthony York in Washington

An earlier version of this post said Dharma was a chocolate Labrador. The dog was actually a black Labrador.

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