Arnie set to terminate Calpers chief

CALIFORNIAN Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been accused of trying to terminate the corporate governance activism of pension fund Calpers, with president Sean Harrigan saying he is facing a Republican push to have him ousted.

The giant pension fund that controls an estimated $177bn (£92.6bn) in assets has become famous - or infamous in Republican circles - for using its financial might to rail against what it sees as corporate malfeasance, including excessive executive pay.

But now it seems Arnie is set to put an end to Calpers' activities. Reports suggest Schwarzenegger's supporters have garnered enough votes to ensure Harrigan is voted off the fund's panel today. Harrigan serves on Calpers as a representative of the state's personnel board, which oversees the state's civil service system. Anne Sheehan, an official in Schwarzenegger's finance department, has been appointed to that five-person board and will probably tip the vote against Harrigan and in favour of Ronald Alvarado, an appointee of former Republican Governor Pete Wilson.

Harrigan accused the Schwarzenegger's administration in a Los Angeles Times interview of 'trying to take out one of the most outspoken advocates on behalf of corporate governance in the country'.

Spokesmen for Schwarzenegger denied the Governor was angling to remove Harrigan and said the charge was 'a conspiracy theory' and 'paranoid musings'.