Rob Reiner steps down from California preschool commission
- By MICHAEL R. BLOOD, AP Political Writer
Thursday, March 30, 2006

It was the director's cut.

Two weeks ago, a defiant Rob Reiner scoffed at suggestions that he should resign from the lavishly funded state preschool commission he helped establish in 1999. But Wednesday, the Hollywood director rewrote his own script and surrendered the chairmanship of the California First 5 Commission, as the agency faced the prospect of an audit into its spending practices.

Reiner offered his resignation over the weekend in a phone call to his friend, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was contending with pressure from fellow Republicans to push Reiner aside.

"We agreed that we cannot let personal political attacks get in the way of doing the very best we can for California's children," Reiner said in a letter released Wednesday.

Critics have accused the commission of a conflict of interest for spending $23 million in public money on an ad campaign that coincided with Reiner's promotion of an expanded preschool initiative that's on the ballot this year, known as Proposition 82.

The Legislature has asked the state auditor to investigate the commission, and Attorney General Bill Lockyer referred the matter to the Sacramento County district attorney for possible investigation.

Reiner was out of town and unavailable for comment, spokesman Mark Fabiani said.

Fabiani added that Reiner was concerned that criticism of him could detract from the statewide program and Proposition 82, which would create free universal preschool by raising taxes on the wealthy.

"The opposition has not focused on the merits of the initiative," Fabiani said. "They've decided to focus on Rob."

In a statement, the Republican governor said Reiner would be replaced by Hector Ramirez, 38, an executive at a nonprofit group for needy children, Para Los Ninos.

"Rob Reiner has always put California's kids first and I thank him for the great work he has done over the last seven years," Schwarzenegger said.

Reiner's exit has the potential to relieve the election-bound Schwarzenegger of a distracting political problem at a time when the governor has been trying to improve his diminished public standing and get his re-election campaign under way. Last week Schwarzenegger said he had no plans to replace the director as the commission chairman.

But with the prospect of a state audit, the commission's problems may be far from over.

"It's reasonably clear that there have been taxpayer dollars used for the promotion of a personal political agenda. That's the issue here," said state Sen. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks, who had called for Reiner's resignation. The audit "is about the inappropriate use of dollars to promote another initiative."

Fabiani said Reiner will have no further involvement with the commission. But there are connections between Reiner and his successor. Ramirez was consulted informally when Reiner's staff put together Proposition 82, and Ramirez serves on an education committee affiliated with the National Council of La Raza, an organization that has endorsed the proposition.

Reiner and Ramirez have met, but "I feel very safe saying that they don't have a relationship," said Elena Stern, a spokeswoman for Para Los Ninos, which receives some funding from the commission.

Asked about the ad campaign, Ramirez said in a conference call with reporters that the he would make sure the commission "upholds the highest level of integrity."

Reiner will continue to be involved with the Proposition 82 campaign, aides said. He has donated $657,000 in cash and other services to the campaign.

URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2006/03/29/state/n115637S96.DTL