| ORACLE DEAL CHRONOLOGY Key dates in the state's approval of a contract with Oracle Corp. 2000-01 Logicon Corp., a reseller of Oracle software, advises the state to approve licensing agreements such as those offered by Oracle. 2001 May: State decides to deal directly with Oracle. May 31: State officials - although not Gov. Gray Davis - sign a $95.million contract with Oracle to provide database software for up to 270,000 state employees and vendors. Main supporters of the deal are the Department of Information Technology, or DOIT, and the Department of General Services. June 5: Davis' campaign reports receiving a $25,000 donation from Oracle. The donation was delivered by Oracle's lobbyist to Arun Baheti, Davis' top technology adviser, who sent it to the campaign. June 27: State Auditor Elaine Howle issues report saying DOIT has ineffective leadership and fails to monitor technology projects. Sept. 14: Legislature orders Howle to audit the Oracle contract. 2002 April 15: Attorney general begins review of Oracle contract. April 16: Howle reports that the contract was negotiated by inexperienced state personnel, the state failed to verify key information, officials ignored evidence that the deal was unnecessary, and that it could cost the state up to $41 million more than if there had been no contract. April 26: Barry Keene resigns as director of General Services. May 2: Davis suspends DOIT Director Elias Cortez. Baheti resigns. Davis orders state offices to halt any shredding related to high-tech contracts and sends in law officers to ensure that his order is followed. Oracle offers to rescind the contract. May 3: Davis says he wants to rescind contract. 
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