Entree Comes With Familiar Side of Governor

His agenda stalled in the Capitol, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger left the building at lunchtime Tuesday, got behind the wheel of an old military Humvee dubbed “Reform 1” and drove five miles to an Applebee’s restaurant to look for a more sympathetic crowd.

There, Schwarzenegger moved from table to table, asking customers eating ribs and burgers to sign petitions for ballot measures that might be decided in a special election this year, allowing him to bypass the Legislature and take his proposed overhaul of state government directly to voters.

The governor has not called such an election -- he has until mid-June to do so. Tuesday’s political theater was meant to send a message to lawmakers: take his proposals seriously or risk a showdown at the ballot box with a popular governor who has a multimillion-dollar media machine at his disposal.

“As soon as we have those signatures, let’s see if that maybe will wake up some of the politicians in this building today,” Schwarzenegger said in a news conference in the Capitol before heading to the restaurant.

Both Democratic lawmakers and the governor concede that negotiations over his agenda are at an impasse. Hoping to prod the Legislature, Schwarzenegger had warned that if there was no movement on his proposals for political and budgetary change by March 1, he would begin an aggressive push to gather signatures.

Each side blames the other for the inaction. Schwarzenegger says lawmakers are wasting time on meaningless legislation. Democratic leaders say the governor has waffled on his own proposals -- pulling them back for refinement -- while ignoring other priorities.

Though the rhetoric has been escalating for weeks, Schwarzenegger reiterated Tuesday that he’s amenable to a deal. He’d like to negotiate with legislators in his smoking tent in the Capitol courtyard. “They wouldn’t even have to smoke,” he said.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) said he and his colleagues are working on an agenda more relevant to Californians than what the governor has embraced.

“Our focus has been balancing the budget, protecting education, doing something about the healthcare crisis that we’re facing here in California, and we are committed to doing something significant to relieve traffic congestion,” Nunez said.

On Tuesday, the governor asked for signatures on petitions for three initiatives:

* A proposal on public employees’ pensions by Assemblyman Keith Richman (R-Northridge). Aimed at cutting costs, the plan would scrap a retirement system offering guaranteed benefits in favor of a 401(k)-style arrangement.

* A redistricting plan by Ted Costa -- lead proponent of the recall movement that ousted Gov. Gray Davis -- that calls for a panel of retired judges to redraw voting districts before the decade is out. Currently, redistricting is done every 10 years, after the census.

* A tenure plan by Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia (R-Cathedral City) that would raise to five from two years the amount of time new teachers must wait before they are covered by job protection rules. This potential ballot measure has not been a major part of the governor’s public agenda.

Another issue on which Schwarzenegger has focused this year is restraining state spending. He has proposed automatic across-the-board cuts when spending knocks the state budget out of balance. But he has not decided, his staff said, which of multiple initiatives on the subject -- some stricter than others -- he might embrace.

The governor also wants to introduce merit pay for teachers. But the administration’s legislation on that issue is not yet ready for a vote, said Senate leader Don Perata (D-Alameda). Perata said the governor’s office recently asked the upper house to hold off voting on the proposal so it could be retooled.

He said the administration also had not provided any actuarial analyses on its proposal to convert to a 401(k)-style pension plan for public employees, making it impossible for legislators to know the repercussions for the workers and the state’s finances.

“We’re talking about the fiber of this state, the cops and firefighters, the university system,” Perata said. “Those are the reason all of us are able to function in this society.”

Hewing to the more partisan tone that he’s taken since last summer’s testy budget talks, Schwarzenegger mocked the Legislature, which he accuses of ignoring his agenda while busying itself with tangential bills. He cited legislation dealing with parking spaces for ice cream trucks, cosmetic surgery for dogs and condoms for prisoners.

“So they were obviously very busy,” Schwarzenegger said at his news conference.

To back up his threat of a special election, the governor is raising money in earnest. Plans are in place for a reception in Cincinnati on Friday, in New York on Monday, in Washington the following day and in Los Angeles on March 16. Schwarzenegger hopes to ultimately pull in $50 million to fund signature-gathering campaigns and buy television advertising time, among other uses.

Before his ride to Applebee’s in a strip mall north of the Capitol, the governor took off his jacket and pink tie and put on sunglasses.

He followed a pickup truck from Specialty Camera Co., which carried a man videotaping Schwarzenegger’s brief trip up Interstate 5.

As the governor pulled up to the restaurant, he was greeted by loud boos and chants of “Don’t sign! Don’t sign!”

Labor groups representing public employees, nurses and teachers had heard about the event and sent about two dozen protesters. Schwarzenegger ignored them, heading for a few people in the crowd carrying campaign signs touting him for governor in 2006.

Inside the restaurant, his aides and Applebee’s employees moved potted plants so the TV news cameras could get a better view. Brief applause greeted his entrance, and diners appeared cordial in greeting him.

The governor stopped at every booth and table to pass out fliers promoting his agenda. He spoke for about 30 seconds at each table.

Aides also passed out petitions for initiatives on redistricting and pension reform.

Schwarzenegger approached a table occupied by Mike Jimenez, head of the state prison guards union, and other members of the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. They had heard about the event moments before it began and rushed to the restaurant.

A smiling Schwarzenegger didn’t appear to recognize the men, even though last year he held several closed-door meetings with them during the union’s contract negotiations with the state.

“Maybe we should talk,” Robert Dean, a vice president of the union told the governor during a brief conversation.

“Any time,” the governor replied. “Arnold Schwarzenegger’s door is always open.”

Jimenez, whose group is resisting the governor’s efforts to overhaul state prisons and privatize pensions, did not speak to the governor. But he told reporters: “We’re not negotiating over anything right now. This administration is totally shut down to any information coming from outside of their management sources. I think that is what today is about; they are not interested in negotiating with anyone, including the Legislature.”

When asked what he would do if the governor gave him a petition to sign, Jimenez replied: “I will wad it up and throw it on the table.”

*

Times staff writers Nancy Vogel and Jordan Rau contributed to this report.