One of the sadder legacies of Arnold Schwarzenegger's tenure as governor was his decision to appoint Hollywood friends and cronies to the State Board of Chiropractic Examiners. They quickly made a mess of their perches, running roughshod over open-meeting laws, personnel rules and their obligation to put patients first.

It won't be backbreaking, but the chiropractic board – and chiropractors as a profession – are now paying the price for Schwarzenegger's poor judgment.

This week, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation approving a $600,000 settlement in a wrongful-termination case filed by Catherine Hayes, the former director of the chiropractic board.

Hayes was fired from the board staff in 2007, and then claimed in a lawsuit that she was terminated for cooperating with a criminal investigation of the board and clashing with Schwarzenegger appointees who were attempting to influence that investigation.

Since the state has been on the losing end of a similar lawsuit recently, the board decided to settle with Hayes. Smart move. The money won't come out of taxpayers' pockets. Instead, it will come out of the chiropractic board's fund, financed through fees on chiropractors who hoped that Schwarzenegger would be their savior.

A former bodybuilder, Schwarzenegger swept into office with an inordinate focus on all things chiropractic. He quickly appointed Franco Columbu, a former Mr. Olympia who starred with Schwarzenegger in the film "Pumping Iron," and Richard Tyler, one of Schwarzenegger's earliest U.S. friends, to this state board.

Crusading that the profession was over-regulated, they soon generated more bad headlines and scrutiny in two years than the board had received in the previous 10.

Back in 2007, lawmakers pushed a bill to give lawmakers and the Department of Consumer Affairs more control over chiropractors, effectively ending the need for an appointed board. Brown should consider reviving this idea. Perhaps he can do more than his predecessor to get rid of costly and unneeded state boards, which continue to endure only because of shameless patronage.

The Bee's past stands

"Tyler and his colleagues shouldn't be using their positions on a state board to influence a criminal investigation. Their actions suggest they see the board of examiners as a trade association, instead of a state board charged with protecting consumers and operating under the rule of law."

– August 15, 2007

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