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Governor Sends Back $100,000 Contribution From Businessman

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Times Staff Writer

The owner of an oil distribution company that donated $100,000 to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s campaign fund for passage of two ballot measures got his check returned by the governor -- and he isn’t happy about it.

New West Petroleum owner Gil Moore said Thursday that he had attended a fund-raising event and had made the donation because he was supporting Schwarzenegger’s efforts to revamp workers’ compensation and revive a state that is in a “worse mess than anybody realizes.”

He said he was surprised to see the check come back in the mail two weeks ago -- along with a note that he would get an explanation from Martin Wilson, a political aide who oversees the governor’s fundraising.

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“I was so angry I wouldn’t even listen to [Wilson],” said Moore, whose business is based in Sacramento.

He added: “I was shocked. And the only thing I can think of is [Schwarzenegger] is very sensitive to special interests and is so worried what the media is going to say.”

At a news conference this week, the governor’s communications director, Rob Stutzman, mentioned that Schwarzenegger had returned a contribution to an unidentified donor. It is the only contribution Schwarzenegger has given back, according to his campaign staff.

A “large donor,” Stutzman said, “was grousing that he wasn’t getting a chance to talk to the governor about a specific policy issue, and the governor on the spot demanded that the money be refunded to that person.”

Moore said that was a reference to him. He said he spoke briefly to Schwarzenegger, exchanging pleasantries at a downtown Sacramento hotel where the event was held.

“I just want to help him do his job,” Moore said. “I don’t have any favors to ask, but I want the public to see what he’s doing and allow the guy the freedom to make changes in the state. And it’s going to be a difficult battle.”

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Wilson, the political aide, said, “The governor feels very strongly that it is inappropriate to mix policy discussions on political occasions, especially when they are fundraising events.”

The policy matter in question, Wilson said, “relates to a problem that [Moore] has with the local air quality district in San Diego.”

Moore said that he “has a beef” with the San Diego Air Pollution Control District, which he said had fined gas stations and convenience stores he owns, but that he had no intention of broaching the matter with the governor.

Schwarzenegger’s practice is to refuse donations from special interests, which he has defined as trade associations representing a single issue, Indian tribes and public employee unions.

The governor is raising money at a record pace to underwrite his campaign to win passage of two measures on the March ballot -- a balanced budget amendment and a $15-billion bond issue. In advance of the March 2 vote, he has collected donations of up to $250,000 apiece.

Next week, the governor is scheduled to attend a fundraising dinner in New York City, hosted by Gov. George Pataki and Robert Wood Johnson IV, heir to the Johnson & Johnson Co. fortune and owner of the New York Jets football team.

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Ticket prices initially topped out at $500,000. The sum was widely criticized as excessive.

In a later round of invitations, the top ticket price for dinner was set at $25,000; cocktails, $10,000.

Wilson said he wasn’t expecting the event to raise more than $500,000.

“It’s not realistic that we’re going to raise the same kind of money in New York that we could raise in California,” he said. “Donors don’t necessarily relate to a California initiative campaign. They want to be helpful to the governor and to California, but this is not something that’s necessarily a top-of-the-mind issue.”

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