By Karen Ocamb

One of the characteristics that first drew gays to Arnold Schwarzenegger -- his devotion to body building -- may be foiling his new career as governor of California. Recently, Democratic Assemblymembers Jackie Speier and Mark Leno questioned Schwarzenegger's relationship to two fitness magazines and whether that job constituted a conflict of interest when he vetoed a bill regulating nutritional supplements, a heavy source of advertising in those magazines.

In his Jan. 2004 State of the State address, Schwarzenegger promised to reform government by "blowing up the boxes" of business as usual in Sacramento, especially regarding money given to politicians by special interests. "Here's how it works. Money goes in. Favors go out. The people lose," candidate Schwarzenegger explained. "The most important thing is to be honest with the people."

But a July 14 story in the Los Angeles Times revealed that two days before he was sworn into office in November 2003, Schwarzenegger agreed to become executive editor of Muscle & Fitness and Flex, magazines owned by American Media, which also owns three supermarket tabloids. His contract required that he write a monthly column for both fitness magazines and "further the business objectives" of the publisher. For this, Schwarzenegger would

receive 1 percent of the magazine's advertising revenues, or an estimated $8 million over five years, the Times deduced from recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings.

Much of the magazines' ad revenues come from nutritional supplements. In the August issue of Muscle & Fitness, for instance, 110 of its 257 pages were ads for supplements, according to the Times. In his June Muscle & Fitness column, Schwarzenegger wrote that he was "so energized to fight any attempt to limit the availability of nutritional supplements." A story in the magazine's August issue claimed the governor had "lent his support" to a new supplements lobbying group. A spokesperson for Schwarzenegger told the Times the article was "hyperbole." Asked about his financial holdings, spokeswoman Margita Thompson said the governor had complied with all financial disclosure laws and that his consulting contract presented "no conflict of interest" because the governor "did not direct sales or marketing activities of American Media and did not have personal contact with any advertisers to generate the advertising revenue." But a larger ethical issue emerged following the SEC revelations, since last year Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill by Speier that would have regulated performance-enhancing supplements in high schools. In his veto message, Schwarzenegger said the bill unfairly targeted "performance-enhancing dietary supplements (PEDS) instead of focusing on ensuring that students participating in high school sports are not engaged in steroids use." Steroids are already banned.

As a result of the SEC uproar, Schwarzenegger cancelled his contract with American Media on July 20. But Speier has re-introduced her bill and intends to work with Leno and California Common Cause on legislation that would require politicians to be more specific in their financial reporting.

"If Californians knew that a constitutional officeholder had a financial interest that was $100,000 or $200,000, that's one thing, but if it's $5 million or $10 million, that's another thing," Leno said.

Meanwhile, two Republican families who believe the suicides of their teenage sons were linked to dietary supplements held a news conference on July 20 asking Schwarzenegger to sign SB 37, Speier's bill that would prohibit high school athletes from using nutritional supplements that are banned by amateur and professional athletic associations.

"Our new purpose in life now," said Frank Marrero, a colonel in the Air Force Reserves, "is steadfastly dedicated to stopping this tragedy from happening to other families."