Governor-Elect Jerry Brown was deep into a meeting with state finance officials and his transition team when media swarmed in by invitation.

Per the Press Release sent, “Jerry Brown will hold a brief photo availability for news media during a meeting between the Governor-Elect, his transition team and Department of Finance officials in Sacramento.”

This afternoon we were escorted to the 10th floor of the Department of Justice into the meeting room of his Attorney General’s office.

For a few moments it went from simply being a photo opportunity to a rapid fire of questions from our group and answers from Brown.

Luckily I had my handy-dandy digital recorder with me. I laid it down between two folks at the table.

For awhile the meeting carried on as if we weren’t there. The clicking of cameras was heard as the meeting continues.

Finally, one of us asks, “Governor, what’s the biggest challenge for you?”

Brown’s response: “I’d say the biggest challenge is just starting the work, which I have, day by day, to keep chipping away.”

“The challenge is to get all the significant players to belly up to the bar and give me their ideas and take responsibility for how California can solve this problem. It’s really a challenge for all the people of California as to how we manage what’s in front of us. And what’s in front of us is this enormous, unprecedented gap between the money coming in and the money committed to going out.”

He says that’s what he’s working on.