SACRAMENTO — When the owner of Staples Center had nearly completed a two-year project to generate power from the sun on the arena's roof, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger showed up at a ceremony to help lay the final solar panel and heap praise on the Anschutz Entertainment Group for going green.
Schwarzenegger returned that same night in late October for a far different, less public event: a fundraiser thrown by the company that raked in half a million dollars for his political endeavors. Guests mingled with the governor and First Lady Maria Shriver over cocktails and dinner on a terrace at Anschutz's L.A. Live development, then watched the Lakers' season opener from luxury box seats.
Bearing star power wherever he goes, Schwarzenegger lends cachet and exposure to those seeking publicity for their events. A review of his appearances and his fundraising this year shows that those who benefited from his giant profile frequently helped the governor as well, often contributing tens of thousands of dollars or more to his campaigns and causes.
After promising during the 2003 recall to end the influence of money in California politics, Schwarzenegger campaigned this year to reform state government through Proposition 11, the successful initiative to change how legislative districts are drawn. Even his allies in that fight find it distasteful that the governor has become the most prolific fundraiser in state political history and solicited millions of dollars for the redistricting effort from corporate and special interests.
"That's the way the system works, and it troubles me," said Derek Cressman, Western regional director for Common Cause, who worked with Schwarzenegger on the initiative and has written a book critical of his fundraising. "The governor, like every other elected official in our state, pays more attention to those people who support him than those who don't. And those people who support him with big checks get noticed."
The timing of the donations can be striking. On Oct. 30, two days after Schwarzenegger did a publicity tour of an environmentally friendly plant built by Contessa Premium Foods, the company wrote a $15,000 check to support Proposition 11.
Schwarzenegger's presence can send a powerful message. The governor and his appointed president of the Public Utilities Commission, Michael Peevey, a former Southern California Edison executive, stood atop a roof in San Bernardino County with current company officials in March to announce the utility's $875-million plan, to be paid for by its customers, to place solar panels on industrial buildings throughout Southern California.
