Posted on 11/17/2006 11:17:01 AM PST by calcowgirl
SACRAMENTO--Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger doled out high-paying and prestigious state jobs this year to dozens of outgoing members of his administration, including six-figure salaries for posts he once said were a waste of taxpayer money and should be eliminated.
An Associated Press investigation of Schwarzenegger's staffing purge since last year's special election revealed that he has appointed or transferred 40 former staffers elsewhere in state government. At least half of those saw their taxpayer-funded salaries increase after they left Schwarzenegger's office, some by more than $30,000 a year.
Schwarzenegger also gave six former staffers jobs with state boards and commissions he previously tried to dismantle.
On one level, the appointments represent the latest in a long-standing practice of political patronage for loyal gubernatorial aides in the state's capital. But they also are appointments that sometimes run counter to Schwarzenegger's own statements on governing and raise questions about his willingness to make future cuts to agencies where many of his former employees now draw state paychecks.
"Schwarzenegger promised to clean up and streamline the bureaucracy that is California government," said Ned Wigglesworth, spokesman for California Common Cause. "Now he's stacking the deck with his folks, and they're making a pretty penny off taxpayers in the process. We're disappointed comparing the rhetoric to the reality."
The appointments were part of a far larger shakeup of the governor's administration over the past year, an unprecedented staffing turnover that followed from last year's failed special election. About half of Schwarzenegger's roughly 185-member administration was turned over, with 52 leaving state government jobs entirely.
Many of those who stayed on the government payroll enjoyed hefty raises in other posts.
Eleven of the former staffers, including one from first lady Maria Shriver's office, were given jobs with state salaries of more than $100,000 a year. Just a handful of those appointed saw their state salaries decrease, but many of those were given positions where they have been able to earn money simultaneously in the private sector.
Some examples of those who got big raises in the administration purge:
_ Dan Skopec, who left a $102,900 job as Schwarzenegger's deputy cabinet secretary for a $118,000 job as undersecretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency.
_ Tod Burnett, who left a $95,004 job as the governor's deputy appointments secretary to become vice chancellor for the California Community College system, a position that gave him a $13,640 raise to $108,644.
_ And Rob McAndrews, Schwarzenegger's former assistant press secretary, who saw his $45,000-a-year salary jump by more than $36,000 after he was appointed to the California State Lottery. He now makes $81,420 a year as the lottery's deputy director for corporate communications.
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In 2004, Schwarzenegger vowed to get rid of 88 boards and commissions as part of his pledge to "blow up the boxes" of state government. Among those he targeted were the Integrated Waste Management Board and Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board.
"No one paid by the state should make $100,000 a year for only meeting twice a month," Schwarzenegger said during his January 2005 State of the State address.
But as Schwarzenegger last year grappled with his failed special election ballot measures, he backed off his proposal to disband the boards. Over that time, lobbyists also succeeded in burying similar plans in the Legislature.
Good-government advocates say Schwarzenegger's appointments to some of the boards and commissions he proposed eliminating make him seem hypocritical. What some watchdogs say is most troubling about the appointments is that some former Schwarzenegger staffers have little or no experience for the jobs they were given.
"This is business-as-usual," said Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles. "The problem is this governor said he would be a different kind of governor. ... These are rewards for working long hours in the governor's office; they're cushy spots where you certainly don't have to work 40 hours a week."
Among those appointed to boards and commissions was Margo Reid Brown, Schwarzenegger's former scheduler, who was named in January to a $117,818-a-year post on the waste management board. A month later, he named his former chief speechwriter, Jeffrey Danzinger, to a $114,191 seat on the same board.
Schwarzenegger this year also appointed Terri Carbaugh, Shriver's former press secretary, to a $114,191 seat on the insurance appeals board, giving her a raise of $9,191 a year.
When he was blasting the boards, Schwarzenegger had gone so far as to say that only administrative law judges should be making the due-process decisions of the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. Carbaugh, his appointee, has a bachelor's degree in communications and has spent most of her career as a government spokeswoman.
Reid, Schwarzenegger's scheduler, also had no prior experience in waste management. She had served as scheduler for former Gov. Pete Wilson and had run a community relations firm.
State law does not require specific experience for such appointments.
Reid was appointed to one of the public seats on the board that does not require technical experience. In February, her colleagues on the waste board elected her chairwoman. In an interview, she said she believes she not only is qualified but also has excelled in her new position.
The board oversees state laws requiring local jurisdictions to divert more trash from garbage dumps to recycling centers. It meets monthly and holds committee meetings twice a month.
"This is a public-interest position, and I think that while it's important to have people who have experience in the industry, it's also important to have people with experience in public life and who have a different perspective," she said.
"Scheduling is a job few people understand. You have to be a jack of all trades."
Danzinger, Schwarzenegger's other appointee to the waste board, had been an adviser there for nearly a decade under Wilson and former Gov. George Deukmejian, both Republicans, and said he loved the work.
Danzinger and Reid each said they asked the governor to appoint them to the board.
"When I decided I wanted to go after the opening, I spoke to the governor," Danzinger said. "Thankfully, he was very cool about it. ... If there's one thing the boss understands, it's opportunity."
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Some of those who were appointed to positions in other state agencies did have relevant experience. Among them were Garrett Ashley, the governor's former deputy chief of staff, and Drew Bohan, his former deputy cabinet secretary.
Ashley had previous experience in international trade before being appointed to his $127,000 position as undersecretary for international trade at the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. That move represented a $2,200 pay cut. Bohan had previous environmental experience before being appointed to his $105,576 position as executive policy officer of the California Ocean Protection Council, a position that gave him a raise of $10,572 a year.
In the absence of reforms to the boards and commissions by the Legislature, it is Schwarzenegger's responsibility to fill open government jobs even those he said should be eliminated, said Margita Thompson, the governor's press secretary.
Schwarzenegger had criticized former Gov. Gray Davis for making similar appointments during his final days in office. Davis tried to make hundreds of appointments after he lost the 2003 recall election, including giving several top advisers jobs on boards and commissions that meet as little as once a month.
Thompson said the way the governor has appointed former staff members to state posts over a period of months as opposed to overnight is far different from the golden parachutes Davis handed his advisers.
"It's fundamentally different from what the governor was criticizing Gray Davis for because he was no longer accountable to voters when taking that action," she said. "The governor is still accountable to voters."
"Plum jobs?"
More jobs Americans won't do? Hope the price of plums doesn't go up.
In other news, the sky is blue and the grass is green.
Thompson said the way the governor has appointed former staff members to state posts over a period of months as opposed to overnight is far different from the golden parachutes Davis handed his advisers.
mmmmmmm over a period of months or overnight.....the results are still the same.
This is why noone trusts politicians. Like, kind of depends on what the meaning of "is" is?
This is so maddening. I heard Lee Rodgers (KSFO, San Francisco) talking abou this this morning. Makes me want to just pound my head against the wall.
AP Enterprise: Unprecedented turnover transformed administration (California)
Contra Costa Times (AP) ^ | Nov. 16, 2006 | AARON C. DAVIS
Posted on 11/16/2006 12:33:08 PM PST by calcowgirl
"This is business-as-usual," said Bob Stern .. (sternly) :-)
anyone surprised?
I'm glad to have never voted for this empty suit.
I sent Arnold some Chapstick after his recent trip to Mexico, the day after the election. I told him he'd need it from kissing Fox's and Calderon's arses.
Regards.
Cool, where do I apply?
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