Bay and Bard
Shakespeare fan Terry Tamminen doesn’t fret his hour on stage in new role as Gov. Schwarzenegger’s Environmental Protection Agency chief
By LAURENCE DARMIENTO
Staff Reporter
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s appointment of Terry Tamminen as secretary of California’s Environmental Protection Agency signaled that this would not be a typical Republican administration. As leader of Santa Monica BayKeeper from 1993 to 1999, Tamminen patrolled the waterways looking for violations of the Clean Water Act and built up a network of citizen volunteers who sample storm drain water and keep an eye out for pollution. He later headed Environment Now, a foundation started by late Walt Disney Co. President Frank Wells. Tamminen has another side: He ran a pool cleaning business in Malibu and has written four books on pool maintenance. He also has had a lifelong interest in Shakespeare, and is the author of a one-man play about the Bard’s life that he has performed at community theaters, universities and elsewhere.
Question: So what is the governor really like?
Answer: He is very action oriented. He’s a caffeine rush who wants to do everything now. He doesn’t want to hear why you can’t do it. He wants to hear how to overcome those obstacles and get it done. He’s a guy who sees opportunities instead of just the negative.
Q: What is it like being an environmentalist in his administration?
A: Fantastic. He has absolutely walked the talk.
Q: What do you mean?
A: We were not a day into the administration and Congress was considering what was called the Bond amendment. Sen. Christopher Bond from Missouri was trying to pass this amendment, which would have restricted our right to regulate small highly polluting engines. And with all the things that Arnold had to do in his first few days in office you could imagine this was the last thing he wanted to pay attention to.
Q: But he did?
A: All of us were working hard to roll this back: (Rep.) Jerry Lewis, (Sen.) Dianne Feinstein, (Rep.) David Dreier. We would get a frantic call from Dreier and Feinstein’s staff, “Look, the Appropriations Committee will recess at 1 p.m. for a half hour, and we don’t think we have the votes to turn it back. Arnold has to call (Alaska Sen.) Ted Stevens directly at this time and explain why it’s important.” We would call Arnold, break into the middle of a meeting and tell him we need you to do this and he would say OK. The result was we won.
Q: So if Gray Davis were still governor you would have the Bond Amendment?
A: Absolutely. He was so hamstrung. “Oh, let’s have a blue ribbon committee to see who is pissed off and who likes this.” It was his management style. Gray was much too cautious.
Q: How did your appointment come about?
A: I had met Maria Shriver through various fundraisers and had a connection with Bobby Kennedy Jr. (her cousin), who is president of the national Waterkeeper Alliance. I am on the board with Bobby. When Arnold announced, I called Bobby and he told me we can connect him to experts on any topic or I can sit down and brief him on things. So it was probably two or three days after he announced, and Arnold called and said “Come over.” We sat down in his office, his old production office, and we would have lunches together.
Q: And how did that go?
A: We talked about not only what are the (environmental) problems in California but what the solutions are both short term and long term. We talked about things like hydrogen, and solar and alternative energy. His kids were out of school at that time, and I realized instantly how most executives who are busy people would introduce you to their kids and then say, “OK kids, you go out and play.” But they were integral parts of our discussion. I can see he saw the environment through his kids.
Q: You were credited with writing the very strong environmental platform in his campaign. Did that convince your environmental colleagues that maybe they should give him a second look?
A: No. Unfortunately, the campaign was so politicized, because it wasn’t even your typical election campaign. If people stood back and looked at Gray Davis or even Bustamante’s environmental record compared to the action plan, you would pick Arnold. It was purely because of the “Ds” and “Rs” that many of my environmental colleagues supported and endorsed Cruz.
Q: Of course, he didn’t help his case by driving a Hummer.
A: Which of us is not an environmental sinner?
Q: So what’s with the pool book?
A: I started it in 1990, before I sold the pool business. When I first bought it I wanted to see what was the bible in the field, and there wasn’t one. So I said to myself: I am going to collect information for however long I own this business and write the textbook. I went to McGraw Hill and showed that there was a need for this. The first one was actually aimed at the trade, and it was called “The Professional Pool Maintenance Manual.” And then the publisher came back to me in 1994 and said. “Would you update it and this time aim it a little more at the homeowner?”
Q: How did you get into the pool business anyway?
A: I made a little money in the real estate business in Florida and when I came to L.A. in 1984 was looking for a business to buy and to build up. One of the subsets of real estate in Florida that you know a lot about is swimming pools. I bought a business in Malibu. It had some celebrity clientele. I took it from a 35-account business to a 300-account business when I sold it in 1991.
Q: What were you doing in Florida?
A: I was working with a company that converted apartments into condominiums. (The owner) hired me and very quickly I was managing his entire real estate division. At its peak it had about 1,000 rental units in management and properties in the Midwest, including a sheep ranch.
Q: A sheep ranch? Did you manage that, too?
A: It actually had been part dairy and part corn, and he bought it. The vast majority of lamb in this country is imported so it seemed like a good investment, a steady return. So we worked very hard at it for five years and it finally did return a profit.
Q: What got you into the environmental movement?
A: I finally said when I sold the pool business that I wanted to do something that really makes a difference. At this point I had really become much more environmentally aware after having studied water chemistry and knew more about the pollutants and chemicals. I was doing environmental and pool consulting and then I met Frank Wells. One area that Frank was interested in, and a passion we shared, happened to be the Santa Monica Bay. We launched BayKeeper.
Q: Did you like running it?
A: It really felt like the culmination of this eclectic career. It was something I was extremely passionate about. My wife would joke with me. She works at the Screen Actors Guild, and she would have to go to work every morning in a suit and I would go to work every morning in a wet suit.
Q: So where does acting fit in?
A: My interest has always been in theater, from childhood, and I have always been in various theatrical endeavors. I met my wife while I was directing the Burbank Civic Light Opera 30 years ago, though we didn’t get married until nine years ago. I took credential courses in theater and technical theater at Cal State Northridge.
Q: Tell us about your play.
A: It’s basically Shakespeare on the eve of his retirement on the stage of the Globe Playhouse when he is packing up his belongings. He looks out and realizes there are people in the audience, and starts a conversation. They are allowed to ask him questions and so the show is never the same twice. There is about eight hours of total material, Shakespeare’s own work, that I keep memorized at any one time. So when I do the show I can draw from that material to illustrate the answer.
Q: Are you a frustrated actor?
A: Not at all. All the world’s a stage. You and I are merely players. We have our entrances and our exits and each of us in time will play many parts. This is one of them.
INTERVIEW: Terry Tamminen
Title: Secretary
Organization: California Environmental Protection Agency
Born: Milwaukee, 1952
Education: University of Queensland, Australia, Senior Degree; attended California State University, Northridge; numerous technical certificates
Career Turning Point: Meeting Frank Wells and becoming the first Santa Monica BayKeeper
Most Admired Person: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Hobbies: Acting, diving, boating, flying single-engine airplanes
Personal: Married, two adult children through marriage
