Democrats Divided on Negotiating With Gov.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger began trying to salvage his plan to overhaul California’s public pension system Tuesday, as Democrats in the Legislature were divided over whether to challenge the governor further.

Some Democrats are pushing to let Schwarzenegger “self-destruct,” as one lawmaker put it, rather than head to the negotiating table on the governor’s ideas for overhauling state government.

The political bickering did not end last week when Schwarzenegger announced that he would drop his initiative to overhaul the state’s pension system. Unions vowed this week to continue their ad campaigns against Schwarzenegger, who is stepping up a public relations effort to defend himself.

Some in the Capitol are losing patience. Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla (D-Pittsburg), who is considered a moderate, said political rhetoric was overriding any deep discussion of the state’s problems.

“It’s being fought in the media, and nobody is talking about fixing things,” he said.

Despite his politically bruising announcement, Schwarzenegger has not abandoned the idea of changing the pension system, which he has described as “gold-plated.” He is seeking to salvage the plan through the Legislature.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) met privately with the governor Tuesday to discuss the pension issue. Schwarzenegger’s staff also met with several police and firefighter groups and city and county officials about rewriting the initiative so it doesn’t contain the poison pill that killed it: ending death and disability benefits for public-safety workers.

Margita Thompson, a spokeswoman for the governor, said Schwarzenegger wants to craft legislation by summer to curb the spiraling cost of public pensions. The governor has said that he wants to finish negotiations this summer and put an initiative on the June 2006 ballot.

The governor’s public relations team has redoubled its effort to repair the governor’s image in the wake of sliding poll numbers. The day after his announcement, Schwarzenegger sought refuge among conservative talk-show hosts.

“We did not pull back at all,” Schwarzenegger told host Hugh Hewitt on Friday, who praised him as an extraordinary man.

In a radio ad released by Schwarzenegger this week, the mother of slain Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy David March defends the governor’s pension proposal. “I am hurt and offended that groups are using the memory of my son in an effort to gain political advantage over Gov. Schwarzenegger,” Barbara March of Santa Clarita says in the 60-second radio spot.

Other widows and family members have assailed the governor, including March’s wife, Teri, in an ad released by the Los Angeles Police Protective League.

A rally featuring actor Tom Arnold, a Schwarzenegger friend, is scheduled for today at the Capitol to thank the governor for “having the courage to put California back on track,” according to the invitation.

But opponents of the governor aren’t backing down. The California Nurses Assn., one of the governor’s most vocal critics, is planning a counter-protest today during the Capitol rally in support of the governor. The California Democratic Party also is encouraging people in a mass e-mail to attend the rally and “stop Arnold’s arrogant agenda.”

The nurses have purchased billboards across the state with the message from a nurse: “She heals. He wheels and deals.”

Said Chuck Idelson, a spokesman for the nurses: “It’s definitely not over.”

Teachers and school officials launched another TV ad this week excoriating the governor for reneging on a promise to restore an additional $2 billion in school funding this year. The California Teachers Assn., a 335,000-member group, said its relationship with the governor was nearly fatally damaged despite the governor’s retreat on pensions.

The union will consider increasing annual dues by $60 in June to raise about $55 million to fight Schwarzenegger.

“I can’t imagine a situation where I would go in and negotiate with the governor,” said Barbara Kerr, president of the CTA. “He betrayed the trust of the teachers and the kids. How do you come back from that?”

For their part, Democrats were divided about how to answer the governor’s abandonment of a major plank of his agenda this year.

“You have to keep the pressure on him,” said Roger Salazar, a Democratic political consultant who is organizing one of several campaigns against the governor. “There is a school of thought that we have done our damage, now let’s see what you can do negotiating. But I think most of the folks have figured out that with somebody who has the resources that Schwarzenegger does, there is a danger he will come back.”

Though some lawmakers pushed to block Schwarzenegger’s agenda, others were more conciliatory, highlighting a split in the majority party. Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) has been negotiating for a compromise on the governor’s plan to change how legislative districts are drawn.

By next week, the governor expects to finish collecting signatures on a redistricting initiative that could appear on a special-election ballot this year if Schwarzenegger calls such an election. The initiative would require an independent panel to determine legislative districts as soon as next year.

Democrats want him to wait until after the 2010 census, when districts would normally be redrawn. But they may agree to back off from fighting Schwarzenegger -- relieving political pressure on him -- if the governor agrees to ease term limits.

Unlike the more combative Democrats and interest groups, Perata said he is willing to compromise. “We originally said it’s a nonstarter,” he said. “We’ve come quite a ways now, saying we’re willing to sit down and work something out. I think he’d prefer that.”

Democratic lawmakers risk upsetting their union constituents if they compromise with Schwarzenegger too much, some said. Canciamilla said Democrats risk going “past a point of no return because of the emotions of the issue.”

Nunez said he would like to see progress through negotiations. “The only progress we have made is he has dropped one of the biggest threats of the year. But who benefits from that?” Nunez said. “We haven’t moved the ball forward here. I got to tell you, it is not my interest to see the governor hurting.”

Democratic strategists are calling for Schwarzenegger to drop everything, including a special election this year.

“In January, he came up with a lot of really bad ideas that he decided for reasons only known to him we were going to put on the ballot in November,” said strategist Gale Kaufman, who is working with the anti-Schwarzenegger group Alliance to Save California. “Nobody was banging down the door for it.”

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Times staff writer Peter Nicholas contributed to this report.