Corporate reformer Sean
Harrigan says that Arnold was the hand behind his ouster from his
position as President of the California Public Employees Retirement
System (CalPERS) today. CalPERS, the nation’s largest public pension
fund, has been the driving force for reforming corporate boardrooms
since the Enron/WorldCom/Tyco catastrophes of a few years back.
Harrigan ruffled some feathers in Corporate America by challenging
do-nothing directors and self-serving executives who had turned their
backs on shareholders and employees.
The feathers of one Burd (Steven Burd, CEO of Safeway, that is) were
particularly ruffled when Harrigan and CalPERS withheld shareholder
votes from his bid to stay on as Safeway’s head (he survived the vote).
So when it came time for Arnold’s State Personnel Board to decide
whether or not to keep Harrigan at CalPERS, Burd and Safeway called for
Harrigan’s head.
Insiders tell ArnoldWatch that Arnold’s Chief of Staff, Patricia
Clarey, and others in his inner circle promised Democratic appointees
to the State Personnel Board extended terms if they voted Sean Harrigan
off of CalPERS. The gov’s team may be squawking that this kind of quid
pro quo would never happen, but the fact is $71K in Safeway campaign
contributions are feathering Arnold’s nest.
Read more at http://www.ArnoldWatch.org
