December 23, 2004

Governor’s Calendar: Lengthy But Vague

The 377 pages of Governor Schwarzenegger’s calendar that were released Wednesday paint a picture of a governor in high demand, but the documents still leave a lot of questions about who actually met with him, and why.

The documents that chronicle his meetings and appointments were released to the California First Amendment Coalition (CFAC), which had filed a request for them after the expansion of public records law sparked by Prop 59 last month.

CFAC executive director Peter Scheer says he credits the governor for the release, but says that there are a lot of follow-up questions to be asked. That’s because many of the entries are vague.

Some highlights of what can be discerned about Schwarzenegger’s meetings in his first year:

* There were numerous meetings with the presidents and CEOs of major corporations, including Wal-Mart, Target, Bank of America, and Safeway.

* There were also meetings that will raise some eyebrows about connections to fundraising. The governor met with Stanley Zax, chairman of Zenith Insurance Company, just two days before Zenith sent the governor a $100,000 campaign check. Zenith is also one of California’s largest workers comp insurance companies. Schwarzenegger also met with the CEO of ChevronTexaco, Dave O’Reilly, a few weeks after the company sent in its own $100,000 check.

* There are a lot of PR-type appointments and meetings, including some to film campaign commercials and others for national TV appearances.

* And a small, but interesting, anecdote: the only meeting ever recorded in the calendar between the governor and the second-in-command, Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante, was on October 23, 2003. Is it possible the two men have never met since?