Gov.'s Top Aide Was Paid by Developer
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's new chief of staff, who is spearheading a $9-billion plan to improve California's water system, was paid $120,000 last year by a Los Angeles developer seeking to build a massive water storage project under the Mojave Desert.
According to interviews and her financial disclosure statement, Susan P. Kennedy earned $10,000 per month in 2005 as a consultant to Cadiz Real Estate, operated by her longtime friend Keith Brackpool.
For nearly a decade, the British-born Brackpool has tried unsuccessfully to put together a public-private partnership that would use the aquifers under his San Bernardino property to store water for use during droughts.
As Schwarzenegger's chief of staff, Kennedy is responsible for advancing the governor's proposals to fix the state's crumbling infrastructure through government projects and public-private partnerships. Part of that plan would raise $9 billion in bond money to improve the state's water storage and management system.
Paul S. Ryan, an attorney with the Campaign Legal Center in Washington, D.C., said Californians should be skeptical of "revolving door" arrangements that bring people from the private sector into government positions that could potentially benefit their former industries.
Such appointments, although common, "create the appearance of impropriety," he said. "It would be wise for such an individual to recuse himself or herself from any dealings that would add to the public's cynicism about the government."
A representative for Cadiz did not return calls seeking comment. Margita Thompson, a spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger, said Kennedy has no conflict of interest.
"If something on the project were to come up, she would recuse herself," Thompson said. "But under no current scenario would the project come up during state business, because it's a private project."
Cadiz came close in 2002 to finalizing a deal with the Metropolitan Water District to store Colorado River water for the agency during wet years that it would sell back in dry years. The proposal was defeated in a close vote of the MWD board over concerns about Cadiz's finances and about the environmental impact of the project.
The MWD supplies water to 18 million people in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.
