Schwarzenegger's lawn for smoking tent led to office flooding
Wednesday September 22, 2004
SACRAMENTO (AP) A tent constructed so Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could smoke his cigars at the state Capitol contributed to some of the water damage suffered during a sudden and massive rainstorm Sunday, state officials said Tuesday.

The artificial lawn covering the Republican governor's smoking patio blocked at least one drain during the downpour, helping drench offices adjacent to the ``horseshoe,'' where Schwarzenegger's top staffers work, said Scott Edelen, a spokesman for the Department of General Services.

After taking office last year, Schwarzenegger, a cigar enthusiast, installed a small smoking tent in the middle of the ground-floor patio outside the governor's office. He also had a layer of artificial grass placed over existing concrete.

``At least one of the drains was covered,'' Edelen said. ``The turf impeded the flow of water into it, for sure. But the main contributor was the two inches of rain in an hour. ... It was too much rain in an hour.''

The artificial turf still remains in the Capitol courtyard, but has been moved away from the drains, Edelen said.

The storm dumped 1.93 inches of rain in an hour on Sunday, flooding buildings, closing roads, causing sewer havoc and downing trees.


(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Haha.  Sounds like it would have flooded anyway.  I wonder what kind of cigar the Terminator prefers

Surely not CUBANS???

I know a waitress at a restaurant where he eats once in awhile.  Apparently, Arnold has his own brand of cigar that he likes to give out as gifts.  

We'll take all the rain and free cigars we can get here in SoCal.

I thought all politicians smoked Crooks.