RSS Feed
Print Story
E-mail Story
When self-promotion, governing get blurred
| Wednesday, Mar 29 2006 10:35 PM
Last Updated: Wednesday, Mar 29 2006 10:39 PM
SACRAMENTO -- When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stopped in Bakersfield Wednesday to high-five himself over the growing economy, was it an official function or a re-election campaign event?
BAKERSFIELD.COM HOT TOPICS:
Loading Stories
Advertisement
Or does it matter?
The question came up a day earlier at the weekly press briefing in Sacramento by his press secretary, Margita Thompson.
She was peppered with questions from reporters about what some people see as an increasingly blurry line between the governor's official actions and his drive to win a second term as the state's chief executive.
The governor has scheduled a number of similar events over the past two weeks, and it looks like there will be many more to come. And this week's trips coincided with the launch of Schwarzenegger's first re-election campaign commercial -- in the very cities he's visiting.
These trips cost the taxpayers money in staff time and travel expenses, even when the entourage travels in the governor's own plane.
Although some ethics watchdogs have gotten in a lather over that and similar activities by public officials, most seem to think it's not a big issue.
That includes Robert Stern, president of the nonpartisan Center for Governmental Studies and a former general counsel of the state Fair Political Practices Commission.
"I can't criticize him for that," Stern said. "As a public official, self-promotion is the second most important part of your job. The first part is serving your constituents."
And you haven't heard any barking from the two Democrats vying to replace Schwarzenegger in the governor's office, State Treasurer Phil Angelides and Controller Steve Westly.
Maybe that's because they are making the same kind of public appearances that step close to the line between official duties and campaigning.
Bakersfield Assemblyman Kevin McCarthy was in Washington earlier this week shoveling money into his congressional campaign war chest from a couple of major fund raisers.
Tuesday evening, it was a reception at the Capitol Hill Club, with newly elected House Majority Leader John Boehner as the "special guest." Tickets were $1,000 each.
Wednesday morning, it was a breakfast at the same establishment. This time, the draw was our own Rep. Bill Thomas who is retiring and supporting McCarthy to replace him. At that event, the eggs were $5,000 a crack, as was reported earlier.
At least somebody thinks a retiring congressman who is chairman of the Ways and Means Committee is a bigger draw than the number two leader in the House.
Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, is ruffling some feathers with his open hostility to efforts by some remote Indian tribes to get in on the casino action by placing them far off their reservations in urban areas or along heavily traveled freeways.
At a committee hearing on the issue he chaired this week, Florez got into an angry confrontation with fellow Democratic Sen. Wes Chesbro. He represents the Big Lagoon Rancheria in far northern Humboldt County, which wants to build a casino in Barstow in the Southern California desert, on the main route from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.
According to a blog by KQED newsman John Myers, when Florez allowed representatives of powerful gaming tribes opposed to the new casino to speak before Big Lagoon got a turn, Chesbro stormed off the dais.
When Florez asked him what was wrong, Chesbro snapped, "In my seven years here, I've never seen a hearing like this. This is the biggest stacked deck. You know there's no fair consideration being given to the Big Lagoon Rancheria," Myers wrote.
"Nice scene," Florez snapped back.
Vic Pollard's column appears every other Thursday.