Where is the Money Going?
Part-Time Government Workers in Special Districts Earning up to $1,100 an Hour
Part-time jobs are generally low-paying with few, or no, benefits unless you’re lucky enough to land that choice $1,094-an-hour gig as a San Mateo County harbor commissioner.
That might seem like a longshot, but the San Jose Mercury News cross-checked its Public Employee Salaries database with government meeting minutes and found a lot of Bay Area public servants slaving away in part-time jobs for big per-hour bucks. read more
City Knew L.A. Streetcar Costs Were Way off before Voters Approved Them
Voters overwhelmingly approved the measure to raise $63 million through a property tax assessment on those within a newly-designated special district encompassing the 4-mile route. Turns out, there was one more thing the Streetcar needed besides a vote—twice as much money as the ballot measure indicated. And judging by a Los Angeles Times review of documents and e-mails, city staffers knew the price tag was too low. read more
Los Angeles Sues Contractors over LAX Runway that Is Falling Apart
The city of Los Angeles has sued the contractors (pdf) who built a $250-million runway extension six years ago for shoddy workmanship that has left the 13,000-foot strip of concrete with cracks and other construction defects. Normally, runway construction lasts 20-25 years. The lawsuit cites steel rebar poking up through the concrete and dislodged chunks of concrete. read more
Audit: Adventure Park at Veterans Home Was “Inexcusable Neglect of Duty”
What aging veteran wouldn’t want to knock back a few brewskies at a tavern and take a ride on a zip line at an adventure park right at the veterans’ home where he lived?
Apparently that was what an administrator for the California Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was thinking when two contracts that ended up costing the state $652,919 were approved for the facility in Napa County’s Yountville, according to a report (pdf) from the California State Auditor. read more
State Sues California’s Largest For-Profit College Company for Fraud
On Thursday, California Attorney General Kamala Harris sued Corinthian Colleges, Inc., accusing it (pdf) of “predatory” activities that “targeted some of our state's most particularly vulnerable people—including low income, single mothers and veterans returning from combat.” The schools allegedly used “deceptive and false advertisements and aggressive marketing campaigns that misrepresented job placement rates and school programs.” read more
New State Law Favors Wealthy NFL Owners over Damaged Ex-Players
The Los Angeles Times reported that more than 3,400 former NFL players have filed the workers’ comp claims in California since 2006. Most of them were from out of state. Taxpayers are not on the hook for the money, which mostly comes out of the pocket of employers and their insurance companies. So California’s new law is a windfall for team owners and their insurers. read more
School District Accountant Charged with Stealing $1.8 Million in Lunch Money
Oakes, reportedly videotaped stuffing large amounts of cash in her bra at work, was charged with eight counts of embezzlement by a public or private officer and eight counts of a public officer crime. The initial probe by Stewart Investigations Services was said to implicate a number of people, according to the San Bernardino Sun, and put the suspected haul at $3.16 million. read more
The Real Cost of Truancy in California, $46.4 Billion, Dwarfs Money Lost for Low Attendance
High school dropouts are 2.5 times more likely to go on welfare than high school graduates and earn $1 million less over their lifetime. There are early indications who those dropouts will be, the report says. First-graders with nine or more absences are twice as likely to drop out of high school. read more
California Dominates Lists of Nation’s Worst Roads in Urban Areas
If it weren’t for Oklahoma, California would own all four of the top spots in a list of the nation’s worst roads (pdf) in large urban areas (pop. 500,000+) published by the national transportation research group TRIP. Still, roads in the Los Angeles–Long Beach–Santa Ana area ranked #1, with 64% of the transportation routes being rated “poor.” read more
Meet Dr. Howard Oliver, the Busiest Rehab Doctor in California
By CIR’s count, the doctor has approved treatment for more than 1,550 patients while acting as medical director under private contract. As medical director, he is frequently the only medical attention his patients see and, for the most part, they don’t see him. He pops into the office, signs a stack of forms and hits the road. read more
Bankrupt Stockton “Throws Down the Gauntlet,” Favors Retirees over Creditors
Stockton’s plan further reduces worker benefits, asks the voters for a tax increase to pay police, and pays some creditors less than they are owed. It will not, however, renege on its pension obligations—unless Judge Christopher Klein of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Sacramento says otherwise. The city reportedly has deals with 14 of its 19 major creditor groups and negotiated a settlement with employees and retirees to reduce their claim from $538 million to $5.1 million. read more
L.A. Skyscraper Deal Uses Popular Prop. 13 Loophole to Save Millions
Brookfield Office Properties Inc. stands to save millions of dollars in property taxes on four skyscrapers the company is buying in downtown Los Angeles by structuring the $2.1 billion deal with Prop. 13 in mind. The official buyer will actually be DTL Holdings, a new company of which Brookfield owns just 47%, just below the threshold for reassessment. It will save the company up to $10 million a year. read more
Why a $100 California Traffic Fine Ends up Costing $549
The charges on Neal’s ticket, in addition to the base fine, included: a state penalty assessment ($100), a county penalty assessment ($70), traffic school ($59), DNA identification fund ($50), court construction ($50), court operations ($40), conviction assessment ($35), state surcharge ($20), emergency medical services ($20), emergency medical air transportation ($4) and night court ($1). read more
NRC Proposes San Onofre Citations, but No Fine, for Flaws that Closed Nuclear Plant
Mitsubishi was given a “notice of noncompliance” for building steam generators with inherent design flaws generated by faulty computer design modeling problems. Edison was chastised for not noticing the problems. Friends of the Earth energy specialist Damon Moglen told the Los Angeles Times, “It's proof that the NRC is a lap dog and not a watchdog.” read more
Dumb and Dumber Food Stamp Cuts Threaten to Axe 350,000 Californians
The House voted 217-210 last week to slash the program by $39 billion over 10 years, require able-bodied adults to work, shorten the benefits period to three months and limit eligibility. Republicans cast all the “yes” votes. One in seven American households, ravaged by five years of the Great Recession, receive food stamps. read more
State Unemployment Up; Unemployment–Check Computer System Down
The launch of the system’s back end on Labor Day resulted in thousands of jobless people not getting their benefits checks. As of Friday, the list of unfortunates still on backlog had grown to 80,000 and the total number recipients affected topped 185,000. read more