Schwarzenegger hands out lucrative jobs in final days

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.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/03/BA761H3JEK.DTL#ixzz1A1nQdvBF

belshe went out. she's been in state service since before my first year. i worked for the agency for many years and her name was always there.

And I was driving through there last week ...

I should have reached out and grabbed one as we passed Sacramento ....