Schwarzenegger hands out lucrative jobs in final days
(01-03) 17:31 PST Sacramento -- Sacramento - Arnold Schwarzenegger, who promised to end business as usual when he arrived in Sacramento seven years ago, wrapped up his last days as governor the same way many of his predecessors have: handing out lucrative, six-figure-salary jobs to staff members and political allies, and even commuting the sentence of the son of a former legislative leader.
The former governor named a dozen friends and allies to boards and commissions Sunday, including Vicki Marti, the partner of Schwarzenegger's chief of staff, Susan Kennedy. Marti will serve on both the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board and the California Medical Assistance Commission, where she will make a combined salary of nearly $168,000.
On Friday, Schwarzenegger also appointed Kennedy and Kim Belshe, who served as secretary of the state's Health and Human Services agency under Schwarzenegger, to unpaid positions at the California Health Benefit Exchange.
Good government groups said the appointments smack of the patronage Schwarzenegger pledged to avoid.
"Gov. Schwarzenegger came into office and said he would shake up business as usual," said Katie Fleming, a spokeswoman for Common Cause California. "Making appointments at the last minute makes it look like political connections are more important than policy expertise... When facing the biggest budget crisis in the state's history, it's hard for voters to see these kinds of appointments, and we hope Gov. Brown does a better job."
Also scoring soft landings were a number of former lawmakers. Former state Sen. Carol Migden, a San Francisco Democrat and former county supervisor who lost a re-election battle and then her job on the Integrated Waste Management Board when Schwarzenegger eliminated it in 2009, was appointed Sunday to the Agriculture Labor Relations Board, a position that pays $128,000 a year and requires Senate confirmation.
Schwarzenegger also appointed former Republican Sens. Dennis Hollingsworth and Roy Ashburn to 128,000 a year jobs as the newest members of the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. The appointments require Senate approval.
Additionally, a handful of former Schwarzenegger staffers were named to boards and commissions where they will make a combined $156,000 annually.
Schwarzenegger also on Sunday reduced the 16-year voluntary manslaughter sentence of Esteban Nuñez, the son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez. Esteban Nuñez and Ryan Jett earlier this year pleaded guilty in connection with the 2008 fatal stabbing of Luis Dos Santos, a 22-year-old Concord man. The stabbing occurred during a fight near San Diego State University in which another three people were injured.
In his commutation announcement, Schwarzenegger said that Nuñez did not kill the victim and reduced his sentence to seven years.
"I do not discount the gravity of the offense," he wrote. "But given Nuñez's limited role in Santos' death and considering that, unlike Jett, Nuñez had no criminal record prior to this offense, I believe Nuñez's sentence is excessive."
Schwarzenegger refused to comment on the decision when approached by reporters Monday.
Read more: Schwarzenegger hands out lucrative jobs in final days
(01-03) 17:31 PST Sacramento -- Sacramento - Arnold Schwarzenegger, who promised to end business as usual when he arrived in Sacramento seven years ago, wrapped up his last days as governor the same way many of his predecessors have: handing out lucrative, six-figure-salary jobs to staff members and political allies, and even commuting the sentence of the son of a former legislative leader.
The former governor named a dozen friends and allies to boards and commissions Sunday, including Vicki Marti, the partner of Schwarzenegger's chief of staff, Susan Kennedy. Marti will serve on both the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board and the California Medical Assistance Commission, where she will make a combined salary of nearly $168,000.
On Friday, Schwarzenegger also appointed Kennedy and Kim Belshe, who served as secretary of the state's Health and Human Services agency under Schwarzenegger, to unpaid positions at the California Health Benefit Exchange.
Good government groups said the appointments smack of the patronage Schwarzenegger pledged to avoid.
"Gov. Schwarzenegger came into office and said he would shake up business as usual," said Katie Fleming, a spokeswoman for Common Cause California. "Making appointments at the last minute makes it look like political connections are more important than policy expertise... When facing the biggest budget crisis in the state's history, it's hard for voters to see these kinds of appointments, and we hope Gov. Brown does a better job."
Also scoring soft landings were a number of former lawmakers. Former state Sen. Carol Migden, a San Francisco Democrat and former county supervisor who lost a re-election battle and then her job on the Integrated Waste Management Board when Schwarzenegger eliminated it in 2009, was appointed Sunday to the Agriculture Labor Relations Board, a position that pays $128,000 a year and requires Senate confirmation.
Schwarzenegger also appointed former Republican Sens. Dennis Hollingsworth and Roy Ashburn to 128,000 a year jobs as the newest members of the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. The appointments require Senate approval.
Additionally, a handful of former Schwarzenegger staffers were named to boards and commissions where they will make a combined $156,000 annually.
Schwarzenegger also on Sunday reduced the 16-year voluntary manslaughter sentence of Esteban Nuñez, the son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez. Esteban Nuñez and Ryan Jett earlier this year pleaded guilty in connection with the 2008 fatal stabbing of Luis Dos Santos, a 22-year-old Concord man. The stabbing occurred during a fight near San Diego State University in which another three people were injured.
In his commutation announcement, Schwarzenegger said that Nuñez did not kill the victim and reduced his sentence to seven years.
"I do not discount the gravity of the offense," he wrote. "But given Nuñez's limited role in Santos' death and considering that, unlike Jett, Nuñez had no criminal record prior to this offense, I believe Nuñez's sentence is excessive."
Schwarzenegger refused to comment on the decision when approached by reporters Monday.
Read more: Schwarzenegger hands out lucrative jobs in final days
