Ex-Assembly Speaker Has the Governor’s Ear

SACRAMENTO —  In Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s inner circle, there are Republicans, there are conservatives, there are people who served under former Gov. Pete Wilson and some whose specialty is running Republican campaigns.

A sprinkling of Democrats are among the governor’s confidants -- notably First Lady Maria Shriver -- and one whose influence is attracting attention among lawmakers is Bob Hertzberg, a chattering, deal-making, cigar-smoking former Assembly speaker whose preferred way of saying hello is an enveloping bearhug.

After a self-imposed exile from the Capitol, Hertzberg is back -- at the governor’s invitation. And it seems he is everywhere. At Schwarzenegger’s State of the State address earlier in the month, Hertzberg sat in the coveted seat in the Assembly gallery beside the first lady. He danced the hora with Schwarzenegger and an assortment of rabbis at the annual menorah-lighting ceremony on the west steps of the Capitol.

Amid the sensitive negotiations over Schwarzenegger’s balanced budget and $15-billion bond measures, Hertzberg served as a back-channel intermediary, ferrying messages between the governor and the Democratic-controlled Legislature.

New to the world of Sacramento politics, Schwarzenegger has enlisted Hertzberg as an unofficial liaison to state lawmakers, using the friendships and alliances Hertzberg cultivated over decades in the political scrum to help shepherd the administration’s agenda into law.

“If I need advice to bridge over to the Democrats and work with the Democrats -- and I need him to make contacts -- he’s always right there,” the governor said in an interview Friday. “He’s someone that I trust. He’s someone that, for many things and many decisions I make, I rely on his judgment. He’s definitely an inside confidant.”

Tapping Hertzberg is reflective of the governor’s style. Schwarzenegger employs a cadre of official government aides whose job it is to cultivate lawmakers. But he also relies on an eclectic kitchen cabinet of outside advisors and friends, including Wilson, MetWest Financial executive and former state Finance Director Russell Gould and George P. Shultz, secretary of State under President Reagan.

“My philosophy is the more knowledge that you have, the better decisions that you can make,” Schwarzenegger said. “So the only way you have good knowledge is that you have the knowledge of the Democrats and the Republican philosophy of how they like to have things run and what their concerns are and how to move forward with things. That’s the only way -- understanding the other side. I believe in working together rather than attacking one another. I think people in the state are sick and tired of that.”

At first glance the pairing would seem to be an uneasy one. Hertzberg opposed the recall, after all. “I helped him in every way possible,” he said of defeated former Gov. Gray Davis.

And Schwarzenegger recently put out a budget that cuts deeply into health care and social service programs that are important to Democratic constituencies.

What Democrats “would expect in this situation is that a Democrat working in a Republican administration would be seeking a middle ground with Democrats, pushing both sides -- not fighting for one side,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, himself a former Assembly speaker. “So in this situation, I don’t think people would find fault with him arguing that, with a $14-billion deficit, there’s going to be heavy cuts in spending. But they would also expect him to argue that there is no way to resolve this budget deficit without raising revenue we need to invest in California.”

At the core of the relationship is a family friendship and mutual trust. Hertzberg, 49, first met Schwarzenegger at a party in the early 1980s during the filming of “Terminator.” Hertzberg’s wife, Cynthia Ann Telles, is an old friend of the Kennedy-Shriver family. Her father, Raymond Telles, was appointed ambassador to Costa Rica by President Kennedy.

When Schwarzenegger assembled his transition team after winning the Oct. 7 recall, he made Hertzberg a member. And Hertzberg’s profile within the young administration has only grown.

Hertzberg sees himself as an advocate for Democratic positions within a government that he describes as open to competing ideas. “It’s good to have a Democratic voice in the room,” Hertzberg said in a recent interview in his law office. “It’s sincere. I wouldn’t do it if I thought it was a token.”

He added: Schwarzenegger “is a fabulously intellectual person who is very inquisitive. He wants to hear all views before making up his mind.... The guy wants the best of the best ideas.”

Hertzberg is reluctant to talk about his relationship with Schwarzenegger, except to say: “My focus is we’re in a rut in California and let’s get out of it.... I give him my best ideas when he asks.”

Hertzberg has worked on campaigns since he was a teenager. He estimates that he’s played a role in more than 150 campaigns since the 1970s and has visited every county in the state.

“So many legislative members from the Latino community are my buds,” he said.

He was elected to the Assembly in 1996 and served two years as speaker before leaving the Legislature in 2002. He then joined the law firm Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, working in the government relations office. He was recruited to the firm by Mickey Kantor, U.S. trade representative under President Clinton.

Hertzberg provides “strategic advice for foreign and domestic companies doing business in California,” according to his law firm’s website.

His office, on the 25th floor of a downtown Los Angeles office building, with a sweeping view of the city, is like a museum of political history. The decor includes an original brick from the Capitol; a sculpture courtesy of Mexican President Vicente Fox; coasters from Senate Republican leader Jim Brulte; a gavel from the speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives; and pictures of Hertzberg hugging Schwarzenegger and posing with Davis and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Lieberman.

The law firm is registered to lobby in Sacramento, though the former speaker said he does no lobbying and would not represent a client with interests before state government.

“It’s hugely important to me to cross the T’s and dot the I’s,” he said, holding a big, unlit cigar. “I just wouldn’t do it. People have asked me to do things. I’ve turned them down.”

A government watchdog group said there was no potential conflict. “My assumption is he’s volunteering to help the governor and he’s not representing any client on any particular legislation,” said Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles. “Does that help Bob Hertzberg? Does it help the law firm? Sure. But we encourage people to volunteer to help government and to help campaigns.”

Lawmakers said that Hertzberg played an important, if little-publicized, role in an agreement that the governor reached with legislative Democrats last month, sending the balanced budget and bond measures to the March ballot.

Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) an important player in the negotiations, said of Hertzberg: “We were in constant communication.... Of course we know he talks frequently with the governor and was able to consistently feed back to him our reaction to proposals and counter-proposals.”

Hertzberg would report to the governor “what the Democratic legislative line was -- where we couldn’t go and where we were willing to go. And he had the trust of the principals on both sides, which helped quite a bit.”

Hertzberg’s wife also follows administration policy.

Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sun Valley) said that after a reception held for the State of the State speech, he bumped into the couple. He spoke to Telles about resurrecting a measure that would give driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, while addressing security concerns important to Schwarzenegger, Alarcon said.

Telles suggested that Alarcon share information on the subject with a number of people within the Legislature and administration, including the governor and Shriver.

Democratic lawmakers said that recruiting their former leader was a savvy move on the new governor’s part, though there is some speculation in political circles that Hertzberg is angling for an endorsement from Schwarzenegger, should he run for elective office in the future.

“It’s helpful to have someone members know and like,” said Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco). “Hertzberg could come in any time and talk to me about any issue and I’d be happy to listen to him....”

When he left the Assembly more than a year ago, Hertzberg said he wanted to stay away for a time. Schwarzenegger’s inauguration on Nov. 17, he said, was his first trip back to the Capitol.

“I’m not a wannabe,” he said. “I did my thing. It’s the next person’s generation.”

But the Sherman Oaks resident made clear that he is not quite ready to leave the stage. Having represented the voter-rich San Fernando Valley in the Legislature, he has been mentioned as a potential candidate in the 2005 Los Angeles mayor’s race against Mayor James K. Hahn.

Of returning to elective office, he said, “A lot of people have talked to me about it. I love public policy, and every day I wake up with 30 new ideas. It’s not out of the question.”

And the mayor’s race? “I don’t know,” he said. “But I certainly love the city.”

Hertzberg’s new role in Sacramento allows him to “maintain a high visibility in California government and politics,” said Harvey Englander, a Los Angeles political consultant.

“Old speakers don’t fade away,” he said. “They look for other opportunities, and this is what Bob is doing.”