(November 2, 2009) “Reforming California” was the focus of the California Chamber of Commerce Public Affairs Council October retreat, held October 28-30 at the Westin Verasa in Napa.

With one of the highest turnouts ever for the retreat, the conference was marked by lively discussions on topics such as the 2010 initiative reform measures, the gubernatorial race and legislative elections. The retreat also covered the Commission on the 21st Century Economy, and the insiders’ perspective on the water deal currently under negotiation in a special session.

The conference opened on Wednesday evening with a reception hosted by The Honorable Jill Techel, Mayor of Napa and several city council members who briefed the group on economic development in Napa.

New Public Affairs Council Chair Gillian Zucker, a CalChamber Board member and president of the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, presided over the three-day gathering. CalChamber Board Chair Fred Ruiz attended the conference, along with CalChamber Board members Viktor Rzeteljski and Steve Eggert.

Mark Baldassare

Thursday kicked off with Mark Baldassare, president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California, presenting statewide polling data about the major initiative reforms proposed for California government. His report found that Californians are concerned about the economy and the direction of the state, hold state officials in low esteem, and distrust their state government. Most Californians say the budget situation is a big problem and the budget process needs major changes. In terms of previous reforms, voters say term limits and Proposition 13 have been positives and give mixed reviews to fiscal and governance reforms.

The first panel of the day was an informative discussion about reforming California, moderated by Allan Zaremberg, CalChamber President and CEO. Panelists included former California State Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg of G24 Innovations and co-chairperson of California Forward; former state Senator Steve Peace, currently a senior policy advisor with Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck; Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council; Adam Mendelsohn of Mercury Public Affairs and political strategist for Governor Schwarzenegger; and Dan Weintraub, an independent journalist and former columnist for The Sacramento Bee.

Following the first panel, Jeanne Cain, CalChamber executive vice president for public policy, presented a California policy update from the 2009 legislative session. She summarized the final status of top priority bills for the business community, including the fact that Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed all of CalChamber identified “job killer” bills, and offered insight on the current special legislative sessions.

The second panel of the day discussed the various proposals put forth by the Commission on the 21st Century Economy, giving special attention to the business net receipts tax. Kyla Christoffersen, CalChamber’s legal and taxation policy advocate, led the panel, which included Senator George Runner (R-Antelope Valley); Santa Cruz County Treasurer/Tax Collector Fred Keeley; Bill Hauck, president of the California Business Roundtable; Lenny Goldberg, executive director of the California Tax Reform Association; and Joel Fox, president of the Small Business Action Committee.

Panel 3: 2010 Gubernatorial Election

The 2010 gubernatorial election was the focus of the third panel of the day, marking the first time that all five campaigns were in the same room, which sparked a spirited discussion moderated by Rob Lapsley, CalChamber vice president of public affairs. Panelists included Steve Glazer, senior advisor to the Jerry Brown for Governor campaign; Rob Stutzman, principal of Stutzman Public Affairs and representing the Meg Whitman campaign; Jim Bognet, campaign manager for the Steve Poizner for Governor campaign; Garry South, principal of the Garry South Group and representing the Gavin Newsom campaign; Jamie Fisfis, president of Chariot LLC and representing the Tom Campbell campaign; and Mark Barabak, a reporter with the Los Angeles Times.

The next day, Newsom announced he was withdrawing from the Governor’s race, citing commitment to his family and responsibilities at city hall.

The final panel of the day looked at the economics of water. Valerie Nera, CalChamber policy advocate on agriculture, resources and privacy, led the panel, which included Assemblyman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), former California Secretary of State Bill Jones, CalChamber board member and also a former Assembly Republican leader; Mike McGowan, chairman of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors; and Jonas Minton, water policy adviser to the Planning and Conservation League.

Carly Fiorina

More than 130 attendees were treated to a special dinner on Thursday at the Culinary Institute of America. The special guest speaker was potential U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, CEO at Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005. Prior to joining Hewlett-Packard, Fiorina served as an executive vice president at AT&T, and helped to coordinate the spinoff and initial public offering of Lucent. Fiorina offered insights on water, the Endangered Species Act, the federal budget deficit, job creators and government accountability.

The final panel of the conference on Friday evaluated the 2010 legislative elections and specifically looked at whether the Democrats can get to a two-thirds veto-proof majority and the impact that would have on California businesses. Darry Sragow, a JobsPAC consultant and a partner with Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, moderated the panel, which included Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee (R-San Luis Obispo), Gale Kaufman of Kaufman Campaign Consultants, David Howard of the California Association of Realtors and Joe Shumate, a political consultant for JobsPAC.

Meg Whitman

Almost 200 local and state chamber members attended a presentation by featured guest speaker, gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, who discussed the importance of creating jobs, cutting spending and fixing education. Whitman explained that Californians need a government that doesn’t stand in the way of success and her number one goal is to create at least 2 million private-sector jobs by 2015. On spending, Whitman reminded the group that during her 30 years in business, she was held accountable to meet the bottom line and will hold California accountable as well. She talked about the importance of publicizing performance goals and results and using the power of the veto pen to reduce the size of government. Whitman said she plans to lead the charge on education to put more control in the hands of local educators and parents. She said she wants to put more dollars directly into the classroom instead of costly bureaucrats.

Rick Claussen, a partner with Goddard-Claussen, closed the conference with a presentation about how initiatives on the 2010 ballot pose major threats to the business community.

Additional follow up coverage on the 2009 retreat will appear on the CalChamber website at www.calchamber.com/publicaffairs. 

Planning for the June 15, 2010 conference is already underway. For additional information on the council and how to become a member, please contact Rob Lapsley at rob.lapsley@calchamber.com.