Diverse Staff Fits Profile of Gov.-Elect

As the administration of Arnold Schwarzenegger takes shape, his range of appointments suggests the Republican governor-elect plans to run the state much as he campaigned -- as a fiscal conservative with decidedly centrist views on other matters.

Schwarzenegger, who will take office Monday, has put Republicans in nine of the 11 senior jobs he has filled so far. Among the most important: his chief of staff, Patricia Clarey, who served in GOP administrations in Sacramento and Washington, and Finance Director Donna Arduin, a renowned budget cutter for Republican governors in other states.

But Schwarzenegger, a maverick newcomer in a capital with a rigid partisan culture, named a liberal Democrat, his longtime business confidante Bonnie Reiss, as senior advisor. He chose an independent, Sacramento veteran Peter Siggins, as legal secretary, and is expected to name another, Santa Monica conservationist Terry Tamminen, as secretary of environmental protection.

The ideologically diverse staff fits the political profile that Schwarzenegger established in his campaign to unseat Gov. Gray Davis in the October recall election. A Republican in a state dominated by Democrats, he appealed to conservatives with pledges to cut taxes and spending, but reached beyond his party’s base by stressing moderate views on the environment, abortion, guns and other issues. Both liberals and conservatives have found reason for delight and despair in the appointments announced thus far.

Overall, Sacramento longtimers see Schwarzenegger’s initial round of appointments as unusually broad. Yet still unknown is whether the disparate appointees will gel or clash -- and who, besides his ally Reiss, will emerge with Schwarzenegger’s ear.

“The question is: Who has the power?” said Democratic political consultant Gale Kaufman. “Who will rule the day when push comes to shove, and controversy ensues, or decisions have to be made?”

Rob Stutzman, Schwarzenegger’s communications director, said the governor-elect relishes the debate that flows from hiring advisors who disagree. Their ideology and party affiliation are less important to Schwarzenegger than their job skills, Stutzman said.

“This governor feels very comfortable selecting whoever he pleases for different roles and is not deterred by politics one way or another,” Stutzman said. “He very much enjoys observing debate and exchange of ideas and being able to take the best from that.”

Schwarzenegger has yet to fill many of his administration’s top jobs, but it is clear that women will play a powerful role. The top tier includes not only Clarey, Arduin and Reiss, but also Cabinet Secretary Marybel Batjer and Press Secretary Margita Thompson.

Although their appointments could bolster Schwarzenegger’s credentials as a moderate, they also came as the governor-elect was preparing to hire investigators to look into accusations by women that he groped and humiliated them. Dan Schnur, a Republican campaign consultant, said Schwarzenegger apparently “recognizes the ramifications of having a number of high-profile women around him to defuse the ongoing questions about the allegations raised against him.”

Although that could help his image, another element of his appointments runs counter to the way he positioned himself as a candidate. Prominent on Schwarzenegger’s governing team is a cadre of seasoned Sacramento insiders, despite his pledge during the campaign to “clean house” in a capital he depicted as overrun with special interests. Clarey, for one, was deputy chief of staff to Gov. Pete Wilson and held government-relations jobs at two oil companies and an HMO.

Still, Schwarzenegger has also named several advisors with little or no experience in the capital, including Reiss, Arduin and former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, who will be education secretary.

Overshadowing the administration in its initial months will be the state’s monster financial problems. For Schwarzenegger’s first budget year, the cash shortfall is already projected at $10 billion or more. The fiscal imbalance will worsen if he honors his pledge to rescind a $4-billion increase in the vehicle license fee on his first day in office.

Given the scope of the money troubles -- and his pledge to stop California’s “crazy deficit spending” -- political analysts see Schwarzenegger’s finance director as his most crucial appointment. In Florida, New York and Michigan, Arduin built a reputation as a dogged champion of austerity who favored deep cuts to social services.

“It tells me the heart and soul of the Schwarzenegger governorship,” said Larry Gerston, a San Jose State political science professor and coauthor of an upcoming book on the recall race.

Arduin’s appointment has sparked dread on the left and joy on the right.

“She scares me to death,” said liberal Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles). “This is a person who considers taking care of the needs of poor people as waste, who considers all kinds of things important to the fabric of California’s social structure as waste.”

Stephen Moore, president of the conservative Club for Growth advocacy group in Washington, praised Arduin’s nomination. With admiration, he called her “tough as nails.”

“She’ll be down the line a strong voice for fiscal conservatives and pro-growth policies, including holding the line on taxes,” Moore said.

But the roles are reversed when it comes to Schwarzenegger’s expected naming of Tamminen as secretary of environmental protection. He is executive director of Environment Now, a Santa Monica foundation that seeks to curb pollution and suburban sprawl.

“I’m a little concerned,” said Bill Hauck, president of the California Business Roundtable, a trade group for blue-chip corporations and big developers. Under Davis, Hauck said, environmental agencies leaned “pretty far in the direction of holding back housing construction even while there’s a tremendous demand for new housing.”

Still, Schwarzenegger has promised a business-friendly administration to spur the economy. He hired Richard Costigan, chief lobbyist for the California Chamber of Commerce, as his legislative secretary, a move that pleased business leaders but vexed consumer advocates.

Taken together, Schwarzenegger’s early appointments suggest he would like to hear robust argument within the administration, said Sacramento lobbyist Phillip Isenberg, a Democrat.

“That’s a good sign,” he said.

Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, a Democrat whose chief deputy, Siggins, has signed on as Schwarzenegger’s legal secretary, said the new governor’s wide range of appointees could produce constructive debate, but he warned of turf wars.

“It can be hugely time-consuming, and there can be lots of friction,” Lockyer said.

Steven A. Merksamer, who was chief of staff to Gov. George Deukmejian, recalled Gov. Jerry Brown’s advice to Deukmejian as Brown prepared to leave office in 1982. He said Brown urged Deukmejian to take his time on top appointments, because people would judge the governor by their quality and integrity.

“It was extremely good advice,” Merksamer said.