Where is the Money Going?
Oklahoma Senator Fails to See Value of California Zombie Apocalypse Training
U.S. Senator Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) took a swipe at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last week for wasting money on local law enforcement projects, including one that involved California zombies.
A dogged fiscal conservative, Coburn had his staff spend a year combing through the department’s grant programs, all of which are supposed to help local and state governments be prepared for terrorist attacks. read more
Hundreds of School Districts Incurred Billions in Debt using Risky Bonds
The Poway Unified School District in Southern California became the poster child for oversized spending earlier in the year when it was revealed that it had borrowed $105 million over 40 years using capital investment bonds (CABs), obligating it to pay back around $1 billion down the road.
Now, the Los Angeles Times says that 200 districts, one fifth all school systems in the state, have used CABs to borrow $2.8 billion since 2007. read more
Not So Fast: L.A. Tickets Thousands in Opening Days of New Downtown Toll Lanes
Los Angeles opened its first toll lanes for business November 10 and has already mailed 12,297 tickets to drivers hurtling in the freeway fast lane past clogged downtown traffic without the requisite transponder to identify them as legal.
Fortunately for the scofflaws, they are only being charged for their time in the toll lines, and their expenses only amounted to $18,358. read more
Half of Charitable Donations Solicited by Commercial Fundraisers Goes to Overhead
Charities don’t always raise money directly. Sometimes they use professional charitable fundraisers who take a portion of the solicitations for fees or other overhead expenses.
Sometimes those fundraisers don’t take anything and sometimes they take a lot. read more
High Court Deals Blow to Cities Trying to Privatize Municipal Jobs
The California Supreme Court dealt a potential blow to cities trying to ease their financial burdens by privatizing services and firing municipal workers when it refused to hear a Costa Mesa appeal of a lower-court ruling that killed its jobs plan.
The earlier appellate decision effectively prohibits most cities from privatization except for certain “specialized services” such as legal or financial functions. read more
Hostess―Its Bankruptcy Blamed on Unions―Suffered through Years of Mismanagement
Nearly one-tenth of the 18,000+ employees of Hostess Brands Inc. idled by the company’s demise in bankruptcy work in California, where it has long been the practice to blame “pampered” union members and their “overstuffed pensions” for a perceived inhospitable business environment.
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Blocked Oil Drillers Sue San Luis Obispo County for $6.24 Billion
The San Luis Obispo Tribune may have been a tad over-optimistic in August when it characterized the county’s Board of Supervisors’ unanimous rejection of an oil company’s plans to drill in the bucolic Huasna Valley as “settling a highly contentious land-use debate” and “bringing five years of controversy to a close.” read more
Orientation for Freshman Lawmakers Starts with a Crash Course in Lobbying
Orientation for California’s 38 Assembly freshmen began almost immediately after the November 6 election—with sessions at the Capitol introducing them to the intricacies of drafting legislation, participating in floor debates and dodging the myriad ethical pitfalls that can derail a career.
And almost immediately the newly-minted lawmakers took off on field trips with lobbyists to learn the real-world application of those skills. read more
What Happened to Orange County’s Not-So-Great “Great Park” and Its $200 Million?
Orange County’s Great Park in Southern California bills itself on its website as “The First Great Metropolitan Park of the 21st Century.” But at the pace it’s going, development of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro into a park will still be ongoing in the 22nd Century. read more
$497 Million Slaughterhouse Fine Is Biggest Ever for Animal Abuse, but Won’t be Collected
A Southern California beef supplier agreed to pay a record fine of nearly $497 million to settle slaughterhouse animal abuse allegations, but the company is bankrupt and won’t be making any payments. read more
JPMorgan Suspended from Trading in California Energy Market, but Has 5 Months to Get Out
A unit of JPMorgan has been suspended from trading in the California Energy Market for six months, but in a nod to the fragility of the system the company was given five months to make a strategic withdrawal.
The suspension of JPMorgan Ventures Energy Corp. by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Wednesday was a first for the agency, which has announced 11 investigations of traders for manipulating the state’s power market. read more
New Federal Poverty Measure Puts California at the Bottom
California has 6 million people living in poverty and a poverty rate of 16.3%, slightly higher than the national rate of 15.1%., according to statistics compiled over three years by the U.S. Census Bureau. Those numbers don’t offer much comfort, but they could be much worse.
And now the Census Bureau says they probably are. read more
“Overpoliced” California Cities Dominate Study Showing Cost-Effectiveness of More Cops
Every dollar spent on policing in Sunnyvale, California (pop.: 140,095) yields only 20 cents in crime reduction benefits, while every dollar spent on policing in Gary, Indiana (pop.: 80,294) yields $14 in such benefits. Sunnyvale boasts low crime rates, while Gary has one of the nation’s highest crime rates. The authors also confirm a controversial finding made by previous investigators that police reduce violent crime more than property crime. read more
Audit Documents Continuing Mismanagement at L.A. Housing Authority
The good news emerging from the most recent audit of the troubled $1 billion-a-year department responsible for overseeing affordable housing in Los Angeles is a lack of any significant illegal shenanigans.
The bad news, according to City Controller Wendy Greuel’s audit, is that it’s hard to track anything in a department “fraught with inadequate internal controls and beleaguered by managers who did not prioritize the organization’s finances.” read more
Energy Company Responsible for Gouging State Rewarded with New Business
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has given its stamp of approval to a $120 million settlement reached in March between California and New Jersey-based NRG Energy over gouging of state energy consumers during the 2000-01 Enron-led energy crisis. read more
Bond Money Sits Idle, Costing California Millions
In cash-strapped California, you wouldn’t think it would be hard for the government to spend the money it has.
But, the state apparently left $49 million in interest on the table last year when the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) requested, and the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) approved, bond sales to provide cash beyond its immediate spending needs. read more