Gov.'s Top Aide to Woo Donors

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is dispatching his newly appointed chief of staff to woo wealthy Republican donors for his reelection effort, injecting his most influential policy advisor into the job of collecting money for his campaign.

Susan Kennedy, once a top-level Democrat, will play a key role in the governor's reelection bid, the administration confirmed Wednesday. She is being paid campaign funds in addition to her $131,000 government salary and will mix freely with influential contributors.

Campaign finance experts and legislative Democrats questioned why Kennedy -- the lead negotiator on major decisions in the Schwarzenegger administration -- would be allowed to attend private meetings with donors when many have business before the administration.

Paul S. Ryan, associate legal counsel at the Campaign Legal Center in Washington, D.C., said allowing donors access to Kennedy creates "the appearance of corruption in California. If you are fortunate to afford the price of admission, then you automatically gain access that the vast majority of Californians do not have."

Appointed last month to the highest-ranking position in the Schwarzenegger administration, Kennedy is a former Democratic Party executive and aide to former Gov. Gray Davis. She has nevertheless vowed loyalty to the Republican governor and his 2006 reelection effort.

California law allows her to attend fundraisers for the governor and work on his campaign, as long as she is doing it on her own time.

Under Davis, however, an informal rule prohibited staff members -- including Kennedy -- from attending any fundraisers, said Steve Maviglio, a former spokesman for Davis.

Schwarzenegger communications director Rob Stutzman said Kennedy would take vacation days to meet donors and work on the campaign, and would "absolutely" separate her policy job from the fundraising effort. He said that "her insight strategically on how the campaign will proceed will be invaluable."

Maviglio, who now works for Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles), said Democrats see problems with Kennedy and other Schwarzenegger officials moving back and forth between policy discussions in the Capitol and meetings with donors. The governor's former chief of staff, Patricia Clarey, took time off from her government job to serve as Schwarzenegger's campaign manager last year.