TV Audience Puts the Gov. on Defensive

Pressed by a skeptical audience in a televised forum Friday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger cast himself as so determined to bring “reform” to California that he is not worried about offending the corporate interests and Republican Party loyalists who are his core supporters.

Schwarzenegger parried some of the most pointed questions he has confronted in the special election campaign during a 45-minute appearance before a group of Fresno-area residents that included teachers, a writer, a state employee, a housing specialist and a Clovis Chamber of Commerce official.

From the opening minutes, Schwarzenegger was forced to defend the four ballot initiatives that he wants Californians to pass Nov. 8. One of the measures, Proposition 74, would require public school teachers to wait five years rather than two before getting tenure.

In the first question of the night, a teacher suggested he would have to visit “dreamland” to find sufficient numbers of teachers if the measure passed, because recruitment would become more difficult.

Schwarzenegger countered that the state should not settle for poor teachers even if the supply of qualified workers is low.

“It’s extremely important to recognize we have a problem,” he said. He later added: “We’re short of teachers as it is. But that doesn’t mean that we have to leave the teachers failing our schools in there. We want to create an atmosphere where it’s hard to fire teachers, but not impossible to fire teachers.”

KFSN-TV Channel 30 and the Fresno Bee jointly sponsored the forum, which was broadcast to about 1.2 million people in the six-county Fresno-area television market.

The format mirrored that of a televised question-and-answer session featuring the governor and his opponents in Walnut Creek on Monday. An independent research firm, Nichols Research Inc., picked the audience of 45 people based on the voter registration in Fresno County.

The county is 46.4% Republican and 39.6% Democratic; 11.2% declined to state, according to secretary of State records from September.

Schwarzenegger and his opponent, 46-year-old union organizer Kevin Hall, appeared on stage separately. After Hall’s appearance, viewers saw a tape of Fresno native Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, who has kept a low profile since losing to Schwarzenegger in the 2003 recall campaign.

Schwarzenegger, wearing a khaki suit and peach-colored tie, stood throughout the forum, as he did in Walnut Creek, but seemed less animated -- perhaps reflecting the more critical tone of the questions. One of the moderators, a columnist for the Fresno Bee, said that reading a state analysis of his proposed spending controls was akin to reading “War and Peace.”

A Fresno high school teacher, addressing the attempt to purge poor teachers, asked why Schwarzenegger was not making more of an effort to hold politicians accountable.

Schwarzenegger sought to demonstrate his sincerity in striving to fix what he calls a “broken system” by stressing that he doesn’t care if his own party is upset with him.

He cited Proposition 77, which would strip the Legislature of the power to draw voting districts and give it instead to a panel of retired judges. Schwarzenegger conceded that some Republicans are upset with that, worried that it could diminish the party’s clout depending on how the new boundaries are drawn.

“What do I care? It doesn’t make any difference to me if there are more Republicans getting a seat or more Democrats getting a seat,” the governor said.

Bustamante mentioned the redistricting issue in his taped remarks.

“We should just say, ‘Governor, work with this Legislature. Let’s develop a bipartisan commission that can do this. Not three retired judges that someone appointed years ago.’ ”

Schwarzenegger also said he was prepared to disappoint business interests, a source of considerable political and fund-raising support.

One of his more controversial measures is Proposition 75, which would bar unions from spending money on campaigns without the permission of members.

The governor said he was willing to support an initiative to extend such restrictions to corporations so they could not make political donations without their shareholders’ approval.

“I believe it should be across the board, also for corporations,” he said. “Shareholders should also be protected for that, and I will be all for that,” he said.

The California Chamber of Commerce opposes the governor’s position on the issue.

Schwarzenegger had harsh words for oil and gas companies, citing rising gasoline prices.

“I think it’s an outrage to see the kinds of prices and to see then the oil companies making billions and billions of dollars in profit,” he said.

Schwarzenegger has collected $1.4 million in campaign donations from oil and gas interests, state records show.

In his appearance, Hall, the union member, faulted the governor for resorting to the ballot rather than reaching consensus with the Legislature.

Poised and articulate, Hall said the governor “broke his promise to be bipartisan and to pull this state together.”

“Instead he’s attacking California heroes: the firefighters, police officers, teachers and nurses,” he said. “Instead we have a special election that nobody needs.”

Hall said the teacher tenure initiative is retribution against teachers for challenging the governor politically. He predicted that it would do nothing.

As for Schwarzenegger’s proposed state budget restraints, Hall said they would permit the governor to make “robo-cuts” -- indiscriminate and across the board -- in the state budget.

He said he would “like to see the governor do the hard work of being governor and get in there and negotiate with the Legislature.”

“This election and all the initiatives are a package of bad ideas for our state,” he said.

Hall’s 14-year-old son was among protesters across the street from the TV studio where the forum took place.