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Schwarzenegger Cuts Ties With 'Arnold Classic'
Move Comes As Calif. Governor Cuts Some Business Ties
UPDATED: 11:20 am EDT July 25, 2005
SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has cut his business ties with the "Arnold Classic," the annual bodybuilding competition in Ohio that bears his name, his spokeswoman said Saturday. But money from nutritional supplement companies apparently continues to flow to the governor, although less directly.
The move comes as the governor relinquishes his title as executive editor of Muscle & Fitness and Flex magazines, giving up at least $5 million in income to distance himself from nutritional supplement companies that advertise heavily in the periodicals.
The governor was paid a fee each year to attend the pre-eminent bodybuilding event where dietary supplements also are heavily promoted, said spokeswoman Margita Thompson. She didn't know how much he was paid.
"That financial relationship is over," Thompson said. "He wanted the people to know he's focusing on governing, and didn't want this to be viewed as a distraction."
Similar reasoning drove Schwarzenegger's decision to end his magazine deal about a week ago. He decided to cut financial ties to the Arnold Classic around the same time, aides said.
The governor will keep the previous Arnold Classic fees but refuse any in the future, Thompson said, though he's likely to continue attending the event in Columbus, Ohio.
"I can't imagine he wouldn't," Thompson said. "He's gone every year."
Similarly, the former Mr. Universe said he will keep writing columns for both magazines for free, but has no plans to return the money he was paid before the controversy erupted earlier this month.
Last year, Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill authored by State Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, that would have regulated the use of performance-enhancing substances in high school sports.
Speier was among those alleging that Schwarzenegger had a conflict of interest in acting on legislation that could hurt business in the nutritional supplements industry while at the same taking millions from magazines that rely on the industry for most of their profits.
Schwarzenegger's deal was with a subsidiary of American Media Inc., which agreed to pay $100,000 a year for five years to the Arnold Classic as part of its contract with the governor. The governor's office previously said the magazine's contribution to the event may also be discontinued because it is part of the severed contract.
Aides told the San Francisco Chronicle that the end of the business relationship with the Arnold Classic prompted changes in Schwarzenegger's official economic disclosures.
Dozens of nutritional supplement manufacturers are no longer listed as giving money to Schwarzenegger's Ohio-based Classic Productions Inc., though the manufacturers continue financing the bodybuilding event. Money from Classic Productions now goes to Schwarzenegger's Oak Productions instead of directly to the governor.
Critics said that merely disguises the continuing payments, which Schwarzenegger's aides denied.
"By adding that new level, you effectively hid the source of those funds, " said Larry Noble of the Center for Responsive Politics. "If you can hide the source of money, it's as good as if you had no disclosure at all."
Schwarzenegger Cuts Ties With 'Arnold Classic'
Move Comes As Calif. Governor Cuts Some Business Ties
UPDATED: 11:20 am EDT July 25, 2005
SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has cut his business ties with the "Arnold Classic," the annual bodybuilding competition in Ohio that bears his name, his spokeswoman said Saturday. But money from nutritional supplement companies apparently continues to flow to the governor, although less directly.
The move comes as the governor relinquishes his title as executive editor of Muscle & Fitness and Flex magazines, giving up at least $5 million in income to distance himself from nutritional supplement companies that advertise heavily in the periodicals.
The governor was paid a fee each year to attend the pre-eminent bodybuilding event where dietary supplements also are heavily promoted, said spokeswoman Margita Thompson. She didn't know how much he was paid.
"That financial relationship is over," Thompson said. "He wanted the people to know he's focusing on governing, and didn't want this to be viewed as a distraction."
Similar reasoning drove Schwarzenegger's decision to end his magazine deal about a week ago. He decided to cut financial ties to the Arnold Classic around the same time, aides said.
The governor will keep the previous Arnold Classic fees but refuse any in the future, Thompson said, though he's likely to continue attending the event in Columbus, Ohio.
"I can't imagine he wouldn't," Thompson said. "He's gone every year."
Similarly, the former Mr. Universe said he will keep writing columns for both magazines for free, but has no plans to return the money he was paid before the controversy erupted earlier this month.
Last year, Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill authored by State Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, that would have regulated the use of performance-enhancing substances in high school sports.
Speier was among those alleging that Schwarzenegger had a conflict of interest in acting on legislation that could hurt business in the nutritional supplements industry while at the same taking millions from magazines that rely on the industry for most of their profits.
Schwarzenegger's deal was with a subsidiary of American Media Inc., which agreed to pay $100,000 a year for five years to the Arnold Classic as part of its contract with the governor. The governor's office previously said the magazine's contribution to the event may also be discontinued because it is part of the severed contract.
Aides told the San Francisco Chronicle that the end of the business relationship with the Arnold Classic prompted changes in Schwarzenegger's official economic disclosures.
Dozens of nutritional supplement manufacturers are no longer listed as giving money to Schwarzenegger's Ohio-based Classic Productions Inc., though the manufacturers continue financing the bodybuilding event. Money from Classic Productions now goes to Schwarzenegger's Oak Productions instead of directly to the governor.
Critics said that merely disguises the continuing payments, which Schwarzenegger's aides denied.
"By adding that new level, you effectively hid the source of those funds, " said Larry Noble of the Center for Responsive Politics. "If you can hide the source of money, it's as good as if you had no disclosure at all."