Nelson and Padberg End Association; She Leaves Firm

Robert Nelson and Eileen Padberg, former Orange County political aides who teamed up to successfully manage campaigns for actor Clint Eastwood and the defeat of the statewide bottle-deposit initiative, have ended their eight-year association.

Padberg has left Costa Mesa-based Nelson/Padberg Communications to personally counsel her own clients, Nelson said Tuesday.

Nelson/Padberg clients include the Anheuser-Busch Cos., American Express, Registry Hotel Corp., the Irvine Co., Humana Hospitals, Mola Development and Home Builders Assn. of Central Arizona, according to Nelson. He said that Padberg is not taking any of the firm’s accounts with her.

“I’m sorry to see Eileen leave . . . but all good things must come to an end. . . . I wish her the best of luck,” Nelson said.

Padberg, named president of the firm in 1985, could not be reached for comment. In a prepared statement distributed by Nelson, Padberg was quoted as saying:

”. . . I now want to do other things with my life. I will be focusing more on personal, direct service to a limited group of clients, rather than management of a large staff.”

Padberg, a former legislative analyst at the Orange County Employees Assn., managed the successful campaign of former Nevada Gov. Robert List in 1978 after running two of Sheriff Brad Gates’ election efforts.

She also directed the Nelson/Padberg team that managed Eastwood’s successful campaign for mayor of Carmel last year.

The firm managed a successful health care initiative in Arizona two years ago and directed the successful campaigns against statewide restrictions on smoking and a mandatory five-cent deposit on beverage containers.

However, the firm also managed the unsuccessful campaigns to block San Francisco’s anti-smoking ordinance and former Irvine Mayor David Sills’ Republican primary bid against Assemblyman Nolan Frizzelle (R-Huntington Beach).

Last year, Dist. Atty. Cecil Hicks turned over two investigations involving former clients of Nelson/Padberg to the state attorney general’s office to avoid a conflict of interest. Padberg had managed Hicks’ own reelection effort.

Meanwhile, Nelson said Tuesday that Susan De Santis, former director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development during Gov. George Deukmejian’s first term, replaces Padberg as chief operating officer of the firm’s California division.