Governor talks, and funds flow

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.

Edison has given $95,000 to support the governor this year.

“When it’s complete, it will produce enough power for 162,000 homes, so that is really spectacular,” Schwarzenegger said of the project. “It is electricity, by the way, that is produced without emitting any greenhouse gases; no transmission lines and no fossil fuel is needed for this.”

That gave critics the impression that the project was destined for approval before it had been considered by the PUC, the state’s regulatory body -- before which it is still pending -- even though other power producers said it might cost too much and give Edison monopolistic control over solar energy in the area. Schwarzenegger has pushed state programs encouraging more competition in development of clean energy, so his appearance was surprising to some.

“It seemed like an endorsement,” said Sue Kately, executive director of the California Solar Energy Industries Assn., a trade group whose members wanted the chance to develop solar facilities at a lower cost. “The project wasn’t even approved yet.” The governor and Edison officials returned to the same site Dec. 1 to tout completion of an initial phase that was allowed by the PUC.

The Times identified more than 30 appearances by the governor with donors in 2008. Schwarzenegger’s aides said those represent a fraction of 185 events he had attended as of early November. But most of the activities they cited were purely governmental, involving no private interests that typically make political contributions

Aaron McLear, the governor’s spokesman, said there is no direct relationship between his fundraising and his public events, but there may be a natural synergy. He promotes companies whose activities coincide with his interests, such as clean energy and climate change, and the same people contribute money because they like his policies.

These events “benefit the public by highlighting what these companies are doing that is in line with the governor’s vision,” McLear said.

Often, the governor’s appearances are orchestrated by longtime confidants. The Edison event was coordinated by California Strategies, an influential Sacramento consulting firm headed by Bob White. White is a former chief of staff for Gov. Pete Wilson, who assisted Schwarzenegger during the 2003 recall campaign.

Jim Brulte, a former Republican state legislative leader who is now a California Strategies consultant, stood on the roof and received thanks from the governor at the announcement.

Another California Strategies consultant, Gary Hunt, is Schwarzenegger’s campaign finance chairman. Hunt arranged for the governor to be present when his client, the Tejon Ranch real estate development company, announced an agreement with environmentalists in May to preserve up to 240,000 acres.

Tejon Ranch contributed $25,000 to Schwarzenegger in July. Barry Zoeller, a spokesman for the company, said the donation was to support Proposition 11.

“We think that redistricting reform is important in California, and so we processed a check,” he said.

The initiative campaign also received $100,000 from Haim Saban two months after Schwarzenegger attended the naming of a health clinic after the Los Angeles media mogul and his wife. The governor spoke at an energy symposium in May sponsored by the New Majority, a coalition of moderate Republicans that gave nearly $500,000 this year to the redistricting campaign and $100,000 to one of Schwarzenegger’s political funds.

Advocates for a campaign finance system funded by the public say that big donors now command a disproportionate share of elected officials’ time and attention.

“They want to be able to have that access,” said Julie Rajan, executive director of the nonprofit California Clean Money Campaign.

Money raised by Schwarzenegger fulfills a variety of needs. His California Dream Team political account has paid for consultants and petitions, funded his private plane rides to campaign events and contributed to the drive for Proposition 11.

Donors have also paid for elaborate conferences, including the governor’s global climate summit at the Beverly Hilton in mid-November. In August, Schwarzenegger hosted a three-day conference for governors of U.S. and Mexican border states at Universal Studios at a cost of $3.5 million. These are theatrical, well-catered affairs, consistent with Schwarzenegger’s vaunted showmanship, and they’re expensive.

Until this year, corporate sponsors of such events were largely kept secret. Schwarzenegger’s Los Angeles-based fundraiser, Renee Croce, solicited contributions for a nonprofit group called the California State Protocol Foundation, with ties to the California Chamber of Commerce, which had refused to disclose the donors.

But under a law that took effect in July, the governor now must reveal the donations, such as the $10,000 given by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers to the Border Governors Conference on Aug. 25. A week earlier, Schwarzenegger had appeared via video to help the group launch a program called EcoDriving, meant to teach techniques for conserving fuel.

The governor received a pledge of $10,000 for his climate summit from Applied Materials, a semiconductor company in Sunnyvale that he visited on Oct. 9 to dedicate a solar installation. SunPower Corp., which made the panels, chipped in $10,000. After the dedication, Schwarzenegger spoke at a forum held at the Sunnyvale site by TechNet, a political alliance of technology executives that contributed $15,000 to the California Dream Team 2 1/2 weeks later.

The Auto Alliance’s vice president, Gloria Bergquist, said Schwarzenegger met with the group and urged its member car companies to innovate. The association approached the governor again when it sought to educate motorists about EcoDriving, which is popular in Europe.

“He agreed that consumers did need to be more aware,” Bergquist said. “And so he volunteered.”

The donation was unrelated, she said; the alliance has made annual contributions since 2005 to help Schwarzenegger with his priorities.

At the Staples Center, the governor’s appearance followed a challenge that Schwarzenegger issued for the arena’s operator to become more environmentally friendly, said Timothy Leiweke, chief executive of the Anschutz Entertainment Group, commonly known as AEG. The company responded by installing waterless urinals and launching the solar project.

“He loves what we’ve done with the building,” Leiweke said. “Arnold’s been a leader worldwide, so it was an easy decision to make sure that if he was available, he was there to snap in the last panel.”

Within three days of that event, AEG and its executives donated $71,000, including the cost of the Staples Center fundraiser, to the Dream Team account and the Proposition 11 campaign. Leiweke said the timing of the events was coincidental, adding that he was unable to influence Schwarzenegger only a few days later, when the governor proposed a 5% tax on ticket sales that could hurt his company

Schwarzenegger has assisted AEG before, signing a controversial bill the company pushed last year allowing $30 million in bonds intended for affordable housing to be used to improve the area near the Staples Center and L.A. Live.

In February, the governor presented the winner’s jersey in a bike race AEG operates, the Amgen Tour of California. Amgen, the race’s main sponsor, develops medicines using biotechnology. It has donated $27,500 to Schwarzenegger this year, including $2,500 six days after the race.

“People always think that there is a connection where we’re buying favor or buying a vote, but that couldn’t be further from the truth,” Leiweke said. “I don’t buy favor with the governor. I get behind initiatives that I believe in.”

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michael.rothfeld@latimes.com