Governor’s present

Alicia Robinson

Happy birthday, Mr. Governor.

He didn’t have time to eat an elephant ear or ride the Ferris

wheel, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did get a heaping dose of

adoration and birthday greetings from Orange County fairgoers on

Friday.

The governor stopped by the Orange County Fair to thank voters for

urging their legislators to approve his budget, which they finally

did this week, a month into the new fiscal year.

The sweaty and enthusiastic crowd of several hundred was full of

applause, took plenty of pictures and even sang “Happy Birthday” to

Schwarzenegger, who turned 57 on Friday.

“I think he’s doing a really good job in that he’s taking most of

his initiatives to the people,” said Gabe Furey of Orange.

In a speech that lasted about 20 minutes, the movie-star governor

talked about his successes since taking office in November --

rescinding the car tax, repealing the law granting driver’s licenses

to illegal immigrants and passing his bond measure and balanced

budget initiative. And he reciprocated the crowd’s adoration in full

measure.

“I’m not here today to ask you for anything,” Schwarzenegger said.

“I’m only here to say this to you: Thank you very much for supporting

me continuously since the day I was elected governor.”

He also thanked voters for helping pass the $105.3-billion budget,

which he touted as one that “doesn’t spend more money than it takes

in; it does not cater to the special interests; and it does not raise

taxes.”

Most fairgoers didn’t know about the governor’s appearance until

they got to the fair, but plenty of them were armed with video

cameras anyway. Glenn Hansen of Foothill Ranch was one of those

preserving the event for posterity.

Schwarzenegger has had his work cut out for him, but he’s done a

good job of tackling it, Hansen said.

“So far he’s done everything he promised to do,” he said.

Others agreed that the governor has been successful but still has

more to do for the state.

“Certainly helping our schools is crucial, [and] getting us back

to the basic services we had 10, 15 years ago that we took for

granted,” said Lisa Ireland of Manhattan Beach.

Furey said he’d like to see the governor make the legislature

part-time, but he didn’t want to hear about politics Friday.

“[The speech was] very uplifting. I’m glad he didn’t try and sell

anything,” Furey said.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

[email protected].