Governor should return $50,000 contribution, group says

SACRAMENTO – A consumer group has called on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to return a $50,000 contribution from a technology company that does business with the state, saying it violates the governor's pledge not to take money from special interests.

Schwarzenegger opened his campaign saying he didn't need to take money from "special interests." He later narrowed his ban on contributions to those from parties he would have to negotiate with, namely Indian tribes and labor unions.

Critics called the governor's policy murky, since it allowed him to take money from car dealers, developers and other businesses that have interests in state government's actions.

"He has such a novel and self-serving definition of what special interest is," Jim Knox, executive director of California Common Cause, said yesterday. "It seems to me any entity that has business with the state has a vested interest."

The Foundation for Consumer and Taxpayer Rights said yesterday the $50,000 donation from Affiliated Computer Services violated Schwarzenegger's pledge.

"It's a company that can do business with the state, so he has to give the money back if he doesn't want to look like a hypocrite," said Jamie Court, the foundation's president.

Representatives of Schwarzenegger's campaign didn't return calls seeking comment.

ACS State and Local Solutions, the Washington, D.C, branch of the Dallas-based company, is an approved vendor for state government contracts and has a small technology contract with the state worth less than $70,000, said Joe Barrett, the company's director of communications.

Its larger contract with California is with the state Controller's Office to collect unclaimed state property. In return, the company gets 10 percent of the value of returned property, the state Controller's Office said.

The unclaimed property contract expires next month. That contract is approved by the controller, not the governor, the Controller's Office said.

ACS provides technology and support for welfare-to-work, education and other government programs to many states and to local jurisdictions nationwide.

It also provides red light camera technology for local governments and has lobbied on legislation on that issue.

The company gave Schwarzenegger's Total Recall Committee the $50,000 donation Dec. 1.

Barrett said he was unsure whether the contribution was made as part of a fund-raiser but added it wasn't unusual for the company to make contributions. "We support the political process and contribute to candidates and elected officials who we believe will have a positive effect on state government," he said.

In September, the company gave the anti-recall campaign $50,000 and last year gave then-Gov. Gray Davis $30,000. During the recall campaign, ACS executives also gave a combined $33,000 to Schwarzenegger.

This "illustrates that most contributors have policy objectives, and they want to influence government," Knox of Common Cause said.

Where of were are his defenders Norm?

It's been over 7 hours since you posted this and not a single one of the dozen or so familiar names have risen to his defense.

Could they be particpating in the boycot?

Beats me. :-\

Re: The Boycott... I saw a Breaking News Bulletin on one of the Hispanic stations showing a group of maybe a couple hundred in downtown San Jose at Noon. They wanted to gather at the Cesar Chaves Square (which is really more of an oval, btw) but it is now fully adorned in its Christmas Park theme ,, so they were being diverted to another local park. I bet ya Some Hispanic activist will probably sue over that. ;-)

Anecdotal evidence is just that, anecdotal (a brief story). Here's mine.

At about 8 o'clock this morning I passed through an intersection that is juxtaposition between a public grammar school and a large complex of rather shabby apartments that are chiefly populated by migrant labor. The surrounding neighborhood is also populated by first and second generation Hispanic immigrants.

The intersection is typically full of children and two volunteer crossing guards are on duty from 7:00 a.m. to about 8:30 a.m. This morning the guards were there but the children were not. Not a single child in sight as I glanced both directions down both streets. A few cars were in front of the school dropping off children but no pedestrian children.

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