Kennedy and Ethics

For Republican Party activists the appointment by Governor Schwarzenegger of leftwing political activist Susan Kennedy as his chief of staff was a philosophical problem. She has worked her entire life to defeat and destroy candidates and public policies that we have embraced and promoted.

With the volume of noise focused on philosophy and party loyalty; the concern about Kennedy’s ethics was nearly drowned out. Questions about Kennedy’s ethics were raised here and in other sources, but mostly complaints have been focused on her role as a political operative.

It has been less than three months since Susan Kennedy took the reins of leadership in the Governor’s office and questions about her ethics are now drowning out the issue of her radical leftist philosophy.

The following two stories provide insight into why Susan Kennedy was wrong for the chief of staff job, regardless of whether she is serving Arnold Schwarzenegger or her old boss Phil Angelides.

Water Firm Awash in Political Influence
Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times

(Keith) Brackpool is the chairman and chief executive of Cadiz Inc. For years, Cadiz tried to entice the Metropolitan Water District into a $150-million scheme to store surplus water from the Colorado in the Mojave Desert. The skeptical MWD, which serves most of Southern California, finally nixed the project in 2002.

But Brackpool has never gone away, possibly because he hopes to exploit his political connections to revive the plan. Over the years, he has hobnobbed with Democratic politicians ranging from former Gov. Gray Davis to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The latest moth caught circling his flame is Susan Kennedy, Gov. Schwarzenegger's chief of staff. As my colleague Robert Salladay reported last week, Kennedy, a Democrat, received $120,000 from Cadiz as a "consultant" in 2005 while serving on the state Public Utilities Commission. The PUC doesn't directly regulate Cadiz, but it has a considerable voice in water policy, a topic that also falls within Kennedy's current portfolio.

Read the full story here.

Kennedy May Be More of a Liability Than Help to Gov.
George Skelton, Los Angeles Times

This probably was not what Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had in mind when he signed up Democrat Susan Kennedy to be his chief of staff.

…The last thing Schwarzenegger needed was for his and her ethics to be questioned. And that's what is happening.

To recap: Since her appointment, it has been reported and acknowledged that Schwarzenegger is supplementing Kennedy's $131,000-per-year public salary with $7,500 a month in political money. That's supposed to pay for her political advice (which she should be offering as chief of staff anyway) and for explaining the governor's agenda to donor groups (that she shouldn't be going near).

Turns out, in December, while still a California Public Utilities commissioner — a $114,000 job — Kennedy was slipped $25,000 from Schwarzenegger's campaign account for political advice. That came three weeks after AT&T donated $25,000 to Schwarzenegger. The donation was made four days before Kennedy voted to approve AT&T's merger with SBC. Nobody is alleging a quid pro quo, but it's a putrid perception.

Read the full story here.