SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger released 350 edited pages of private calendar and appointment records Wednesday, showing that he met frequently with corporate executives and union leaders in his first year in office, took part in dozens of fundraisers and spoke to various special interests whose fortunes could depend on state action.
Until now, the governor has made public the barest information about his daily schedule, typically through terse press releases that stated he spent the day in private meetings.
But saying he has nothing to hide, Schwarzenegger chose to comply with a request submitted by the California First Amendment Coalition under the Public Records Act.
After combing through the records, the coalition's executive director, Peter Scheer, said he was pleased that Schwarzenegger chose to make public appointment logs that previous governors have fought to keep secret. But he also said that the governor withheld relevant information that should be publicized.
None of the governor's outside political advisors, including chief strategist Mike Murphy, is listed by name as having met with him. Some of the advisors represent private companies with an interest in pending legislation and administration policy.
The coalition has not ruled out filing suit to compel the governor to disclose still more material, Scheer said.
"It's fair to say that a door that had been double-locked shut for 13 or 14 years now in California has been pried open at least a crack," Scheer said. "It's a very important step. There is lots of information here. It would also appear however that a lot of information is not here.
"There seems to be lots of meetings that are marked as private, when in fact they may well have involved discussions of government policies and government actions."
Schwarzenegger told reporters on a trip to Tokyo last month that he was happy to make public his calendars because he has no "secrets."
An exception is where he's spending the holidays; Schwarzenegger left California on Wednesday for an 11-day vacation, leaving Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante in charge. Aides would not reveal where Schwarzenegger went. Last year, he spent the holiday season at his home in Sun Valley, Idaho.
