Maria Shriver Recasts ‘First Lady’ as a Powerful Role in California

The line snaked from the lobby of the state history museum to the sidewalk, as scores of people holding pink-and-white hardback books waited to get them signed by the author, California First Lady Maria Shriver.

No one walking past the state-owned building in downtown Sacramento that afternoon in May could have missed the Shriver brand: Copies of the book -- a 62-page advice manual for teenage girls -- were displayed prominently in the museum’s windows.

On gift shop shelves sat T-shirts with inspirational sayings attributed to Shriver: “Fear can be your best teacher;” and “Women are the architects of change.” Near the cash register were items from a jewelry line she helped create called Maria Shriver’s California.

The crowded event made one thing clear: Even as her husband is struggling to recoup his popularity, Shriver has solidified her status as the most prominent -- and powerful -- first lady California has seen.

In two years she has emerged as an important force in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s government, while also taking hold of state cultural institutions like the history museum, called the California Museum, and other programs that interest her.

“All things considered, she would have to be the most conspicuous and influential of the first ladies in the history of the state,” said Kevin Starr, state librarian emeritus and Shriver fan.

Shriver has been selective about where she puts her efforts. She kept her distance, for example, from her husband’s doomed special election in the fall. But she has thrown herself into other causes, including promoting volunteerism, encouraging anti-obesity education and advocating on behalf of women.

A whirl of ideas and plans, Shriver brings with her enormous resources: money, celebrity, a famous political pedigree, glamorous friends and a web of public relations firms and tax-exempt groups dedicated to promoting both her causes and Shriver herself.

To her admirers, she has defined a new and important role for the wife of a governor.

Bonnie Reiss, a Schwarzenegger aide who became a close friend of Shriver while working for the 1980 presidential campaign of her uncle, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), suggested that Shriver has reshaped the first lady role.

“Maria, like most great women that have been first ladies in the state and the country, certainly has brought her unique Maria-ness to the role,” she said.

Shriver’s celebrity, Reiss added, “gives her greater access to fabulous people,” who are willing to pitch in on her projects. “The state benefits from Maria’s celebrity through the access she has to great people.”

But at times, her critics say, her good works have become so entangled with self-promotion that it is difficult to distinguish where serving California stops and furthering Maria’s interests begins. They also question the extent to which, in advancing her agenda, she’s relied on corporate interests and privately funded charities -- groups that are shielded from public accountability and, in some cases, dependent on actions taken by the Schwarzenegger administration.

“It’s unambiguously self-promoting,” author and academic Michael Blitz said of Shriver’s work. “I don’t think anyone doubts that.”

Blitz, coauthor of “Why Arnold Matters: The Rise of a Cultural Icon,” sees in Shriver’s activities a desire for a national profile. “If you look at the constellation of activities” Shriver is involved in, “they really are the stuff of creating a very strong platform on which to stake a claim you deserve to be in a leadership capacity on a national scale,” he said.

Essential Staff

If Shriver has charted a new course for a first lady, it has come at a cost. She has a taxpayer-funded staff with a current annual payroll of about $576,000, although one of her aides will be leaving in January. Shriver’s staff payroll is 57% higher than that of her predecessor, Sharon Davis.

Shriver declined to comment for this article, but a spokeswoman said that extra staff is essential.

“Maria is an internationally recognized celebrity,” said Terri Carbaugh, Shriver’s press secretary. She added: “Comparing Sharon Davis to Maria Shriver is like comparing Jewel to Madonna. Both are successful in their own right. Each has her own following. But in terms of recognition and celebrity status, they don’t compare.”

Shriver’s taxpayer-funded staff is only a part of the picture. The first lady has also put together a network of private tax-exempt groups, corporate allies and public relations firms to support her causes.

Last year, Shriver started a tax-exempt group, the California State Alliance, to advance various projects. Another tax-exempt group, the California Governor’s Conference for Women and Families, was set up last year with a board dominated by Shriver friends and government aides.

The Alliance alone has raised more than $950,000 in private donations, according to Erin Stein, its president. At least 20 corporations and foundations gave money to the organization in 2004-05, according to a list provided by the group.

But the gifts raise questions about conflicts of interest, because many of the corporations donating to Shriver’s causes also have business with the state.

Shriver’s Conference on Women and Families in Long Beach two months ago continued a tradition in California of state-sponsored women’s conferences. But the conferences now bear Shriver’s distinctive stamp. In addition to drawing a crowd of nearly 11,000 women, this year’s conference also drew a crowd of corporate sponsors, many of whom have cause to lobby the Schwarzenegger administration.

One major sponsor was Ameriquest Mortgage. Ameriquest Capital Corp., a parent of the mortgage company, has given more than $1.5 million in campaign contributions to Schwarzenegger campaign committees since 2003. A packet of material handed out by conference organizers thanked Ameriquest on behalf of Shriver and the governor and included a blurb that said Ameriquest Mortgage had helped more than a million Americans become homeowners.

What the blurb didn’t mention is that the company has a history of run-ins with regulators and consumer groups and has set aside $325 million to settle allegations by 35 states and the District of Columbia that it overcharged home loan customers and pressured appraisers to inflate property values.

Target Corp. was also deeply involved in the women’s conference, donating $10,000 apiece to the winners of an award created by Shriver and named after the Roman goddess Minerva.

After a Target executive gave a speech -- telling of the company’s philanthropic generosity beneath an oversized image of the Target logo -- Shriver called out from the podium: “You’re a good girlfriend!”

Target is also a player in Sacramento.

The corporation is part of a coalition of retailers working to defeat legislation that would impose a $30-per-container fee on cargo moving through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to improve rail infrastructure, air quality and port security. On this and other matters, Target has spent $156,000 lobbying the Schwarzenegger administration and the Legislature since the governor was elected two years ago.

Shriver’s office said she lacks authority to make public exactly how the women’s conference was funded. Carbaugh said that the conference is run by its directors and that they decide whether to release donor names and contribution amounts. They have declined to do so.

The board is appointed by the first lady, according to the bylaws, and chaired by her friend, literary agent Jillian Manus.

Carbaugh said that nonprofits are not legally required to publicize their donors and that people who want to know the names could check the women’s conference website for corporate logos.

But the website does not show how much money each corporation gave. And it contains less information than it once did. In 2004, the women’s conference website disclosed the perks that sponsors would receive, including invitations to receptions with the governor. Those benefits are not listed this year.

Experts in government ethics note that it is difficult to hold political figures accountable without knowing the full scope of the money flowing to them and their causes.

“The appearance is often that the companies are doing this as much to keep the governor happy as to support the good works,” said Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington. “The public has a right to know what companies are supporting her charities and what business they have before the state.”

Alliance Mission

Shriver’s other primary charity, the California State Alliance, has a far-reaching mission, including sending phone cards to California troops serving in Iraq, “financially assisting the governor and first spouse” in “diplomatic and consular matters,” honoring the state’s “remarkable women,” promoting volunteerism and improving “the general welfare of California,” according to documents and interviews.

Many of its supporters also have business with the state.

One of the original members of the Alliance board, for example, was until recently the executive in charge of governmental affairs for the telephone giant and state contractor SBC, now AT&T; Inc. The phone company is bidding for a renewal of a state telecommunications contract worth more than $100 million.

Accounting records for the Alliance are kept by the chief financial officer of the state Chamber of Commerce, the leading business lobbyist in the state. At one point, California State Alliance’s chairman was state Chamber of Commerce President Allan Zaremberg, records show. In an application filed with the IRS, the Alliance listed as its address the chamber’s Sacramento headquarters.

The chamber reported spending more than $1.2 million on lobbying in the first half of 2005. It has proved a major source of political and fundraising support for Schwarzenegger. And Schwarzenegger in turn has been good to the chamber. This year and last, the chamber put out lists of bills it labeled “job killers.” Of the 37 bills targeted by the chamber last year, Schwarzenegger followed the chamber’s recommendation roughly 90% of the time.

Carbaugh said the chamber received no special favors.

“The chamber and the governor, for the most part, see eye to eye about potential economic solutions for our state’s ailing and ongoing budget crisis,” Carbaugh wrote to The Times.

In response to requests from a reporter, the Alliance produced a list of its donors as of June, though it didn’t specify amounts given, addresses or, in some cases, full names. One donor listed is Safeway, which helped stage a Shriver appearance in the spring to encourage Californians to prepare for disasters.

As television cameras rolled, Shriver wheeled a grocery cart up and down the aisles of a Safeway-owned Vons supermarket in Chatsworth with her friend Jamie Lee Curtis, picking out items that could be useful in an emergency. “How about some juice packs?” Shriver asked Curtis, who starred with Schwarzenegger in the movie “True Lies.”

Afterward Shriver spoke to reporters in the front of the store. When the questions turned to her husband’s political difficulties, employees of the Manning, Selvage & Lee public relations firm shouted them down and led her away.

Asked if it was good for business to have Shriver and Curtis trolling the store that day as television cameras recorded the moment, a spokesman for Safeway, Brian Dowling, said: “The answer is yes.”

For Shriver, collaboration with the store allowed her to reach an audience outside normal political circles.

Safeway, which has spent more than $160,000 lobbying in Sacramento during the first half of 2005, agreed to sell safety kits with flashlights and whistles -- and tags displaying a picture of Shriver.

Recently, Shriver’s office said that the Alliance would shut down some time in 2006. Carbaugh said the first lady’s “priority projects are better supported by entities which have a clearly defined mission.”

Book Promotion

As first lady, Shriver has made deft use of the cross-marketing opportunities that her celebrity allows.

Earlier this year she released her fifth book: “And One More Thing Before You Go....” Shriver’s taxpayer-funded press office sent out scheduling material to the press corps announcing that she would appear at two book-signings in May. Her press office issued another announcement that she would appear on Tim Russert’s talk show on CNBC to talk about her book.

Shriver also promoted the book -- and occasionally her husband -- in various national TV appearances, including “Larry King Live,” NBC’s “Today,” “The Early Show” on CBS and “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

Along with promoting her book, a for-profit venture, Shriver has promoted a line of jewelry she helped create to raise money for the California State Alliance. Shriver worked with a Los Angeles designer to make bracelets, necklaces and charms with a California theme, with the agreement that a share of the proceeds goes to the Alliance.

One charm bracelet displays iconic California images: the Golden Gate Bridge, the Capitol -- and a romantic picture of Shriver with her head nestled against her husband’s chest. The price: $170.

To mark her one-year anniversary as first lady, Shriver’s government office put out a 15-page retrospective. It was produced by state aides and paid for in part by Schwarzenegger campaign funds. Called “A Remarkable Year,” it gave the Web address people can use to buy the jewelry.

Long stretches pass when little is heard from Shriver. But when she takes on a project, it is with enormous resolve and, at times, a measure of secrecy. She seeks out corporate partners and pays attention to branding.

Soon after Schwarzenegger took office, Shriver targeted California’s volunteerism commission, GoServ, a state agency with a $43-million budget consisting mostly of federal funds. The subject is important to her family: Shriver’s father, Sargent Shriver, was the first director of the Peace Corps.

“She was like a hurricane blowing in with so much energy and enthusiasm,” said Michael Balaoing, chairman of the volunteerism commission. “It was clear it was deeply personal.”

The first thing Shriver wanted was a name change. Instead of the Governor’s Office of Service and Volunteerism, the new name became California Service Corps, an echo of the Peace Corps. The mascot became Sarge the Bear, after her father.

Commission members said Shriver wanted to change the volunteerism commission, mainly through “branding it” and by getting more corporate sponsors involved to pay for such events as its annual service day.

Museum Controversy

Another of Shriver’s projects has been a complete makeover for the history museum, a financially struggling facility a couple of blocks from the Capitol. Museum leaders feared it would go bankrupt and hoped Shriver could save it.

She embraced the idea of saving the museum, but her idea was to transform it into an institution dedicated to California women, a concept that spurred the resignation of three board members.

After women legislators said they would not support the first lady’s concept, Shriver backed off, promising instead a women’s museum within the broader California history museum.

Shriver got legislative approval for her rejiggered plan. The governor signed the “urgency” bill in March, putting it into effect almost immediately.

The bill effectively removed an independent public citizen from the museum’s board in favor of a Schwarzenegger appointee. Also under the new law, the museum is permitted to conduct its operations in secret.

Former museum board member Charles Palm said he sees no reason the board’s dealings should be private.

“Why should a museum board which is designing a program that supports and promotes the history of the whole state be private?” he asked. “Those meetings involve a public enterprise in a public building.”

Today, although it is still too soon to know whether the museum will prove a popular attraction, the Shriver brand pervades the facility.

In addition to the gift shop featuring Shriver’s books and other items she’s involved with, one of the new exhibits consists of two Armani dresses, meant to show what a future female California governor might wear. Shriver’s close friend Wanda McDaniel is an Armani executive -- and also a new member of the museum board.

“First woman governor day and evening wear provided by Giorgio Armani,” the exhibit reads.

The museum’s governing board is now filled with friends and political associates of Shriver, including Nancy McFadden, head of PG&E;’s government relations department; Nadine Schiff, a writer and producer; and Manus, who also serves on the women’s conference board.

There are fewer dissident voices to cause the first lady any more trouble of the kind she faced when she wanted the museum revamped.

Inscribed on one of the museum walls is a quote from her father, who never lived in California: “Break your mirrors, yes indeed, shatter the glass. In our society that’s so self-absorbed, begin to look less at yourself and more at each other,” the quote reads, in part.

Laurence Leamer, author of a biography of Schwarzenegger and several books about the Kennedy family, said the quotation will one day disappear.

“It’s a means to memorialize her father,” Leamer said. “But the likelihood is that when Arnold leaves Sacramento, those quotes are going to come off the walls. Because they’re based on her family and they are not Californians.”

But to Leamer, the problem is deeper than that. The first lady’s efforts, he said, reflect “a kind of Kennedy-Shriver grandiosity in the way things are done. She loves her father very much and wants to memorialize him and the good her family has done, and it all gets mixed up in the state’s business.”