Tony Beard Jr. sergeant superior: members of the Beard family have helped protect the California Capitol for almost 100 years. Today's sergeant at arms in the Senate is "keeper of the institution.".

• Author: Weintraub, Daniel
• Position: ONE OF OUR OWN

Ask California Senator Debra Bowen about Tony Beard Jr.--the Senate's longtime chief sergeant at arms--and she will tell you about tomatoes and cucumbers.

That's what was in a bag that Bowen once left outside the entrance to the Capitol's secure parking garage before rushing off to an engagement out of town. The vegetables were the senator's donation to a silent auction raising money for charity. But no sooner had she left them that it dawned on Bowen that the bag would be seen as suspicious if not malicious by the Highway Patrol officers who guard the garage. The veggies would be removed, if not blown to bits, before the people who were supposed to pick them up arrived later that morning.

So Bowen called Beard. She still doesn't know what Beard did next, nor does she care. Ali she knows is that he fixed it. He always does.

"If I was in trouble and I had change in my pocket for just one phone call, I'd call Tony," Bowen says. "You can count on Tony to take care of whatever it is that needs to be done."

Beard, of course, normally deals with things more momentous than the safety of a bag of produce. But the point stands. Whether it's tomatoes or terrorism, Beard has a reputation here for unflappable professionalism. He is the calm within the legislative storm that often envelops the Capitol.

It's little wonder. The job is in his genes. Beard's father and grandfather were top security officers in California's statehouse, a place to which Beard has been coming since, literally, before he was born.

"I've seen a lot," Beard said. "I love what I do. It's a dream job."

IN HIS BLOOD

His grandfather, Joseph Beard, was an Irish immigrant who settled in the Sierra foothills town of Grass Valley around 1900. He was an electrician who had also put in some time as a prison guard at Folsom. But his life changed when he started bumping into Governor Hiram Johnson at a local pub. Johnson, the progressive reformer who eventually brought California the initiative, referendum and recall, asked Beard to come to Sacramento to head up the state police, a job that at the time also included running the sergeant's office for the Legislature.

Johnson moved on, running for vice president on a third party ticket with Teddy Roosevelt, then to the U.S. Senate, where he served for decades. But the elder Beard remained behind in Sacramento, and ran the state police for 37 years until he retired in 1947.

Tony Beard's father, also named Tony, was next in line. He was a star...