On The Money - Officials Defy the Governor's Ban on Travel (Sacramento: appointed, 2013)

[JGC97]

Periodically, CBS13 reports stories of government cheating. Tonight was another interesting story of theft by State executives perpetrated on the taxpayer. This time, it comes from the Department of Veteran Affairs. I think there is a Part II of this story, tomorrow night.

Last year, the Governor ordered a halt to unnecessary travel by state employees unless it was deemed necessary.

Executive Order B-06-11 stipulates that “conferences (even those that historically have been attended), networking opportunities, … non-essential meetings that can be conducted by phone or video conference” and “events for the sole purpose of making a presentation” are not mission critical.

CBS requested a meeting with the Governor to discuss this latest discovery but their request was denied. I'm not sure the Governor could say much to refute the information obtained by CBS but what else could he say? He was the one who appointed these people to their positions. They audit their own travel expenditures from within the department so it's like the fox guarding the hen house.

It's such a shame that many Californians aren't even aware this is going on in Sacramento. They cheerfully turn their money over to Sacramento, believe the BS coming out of the Governor's mouth and go along blindly, letting these big wigs do whatever they please with taxpayer money.

Maybe that Sunshine group that rated California's transparency with an A+ should take another look. Secret and private internal audits - like the ones done within the Veteran Affairs office - aren't so transparent so I give California an "F" for this one. A couple of years ago it was Cal trans and now it's the Veteran Affairs office.


On The Money: Officials Defy Governor’s Ban On Travel, Rack Up $80K Travel Bill « CBS Sacramento

[NewToCA]

Looks like they're finding a back door method to have their trips home to the LA area reimbursed.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by NewToCA

Looks like they're finding a back door method to have their trips home to the LA area reimbursed.

Ya think? I can tell you from experience, rules aren't when it comes to elected and high level, appointed officials.

[NewToCA]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Ya think? I can tell you from experience, rules aren't when it comes to elected and high level, appointed officials.

Does California have an independent investigative office, like the federal GAO, or do they just depend on whistleblower disclosures (as this story appears to be)?

[JGC97]

Good question. If there is such an office, I haven't heard of it.

I know this is a story that CBS will follow. They're not likely to give up until they get an answer as to what Brown will do about it. He preached "living within our means," so the buck stops with him. Brown doesn't like the investigative reporting from CBS13. They've busted too many State agencies, leaving them with egg on their face. I happen to love watching it. Politicians. Pffft!

[nullgeo]

Yes. By all means. Let's focus our anger and frustrations on the misuse of $80,000 while politics as usual diverts hundreds of billions to private sector interests -- and while private bankers and industrialists and marketeers grab the entire nation's wealth trillions at a time. No point worrying about the big steals.

[JGC97]

Well dang! I didn't realize there was a minimum amount of $$$ we're allowed to comment on here. In the future, I'll be sure to comment only when theft from taxpayers involves millions or billions of dollars. The amount isn't monumental but the message of what continues to go on in Sacramento is.

[nullgeo]

No minimum charge ... But the principle is: "Wading through $20 bills to pick up a nickel".
IMHO, it's a waste of a good rant when there are so many other exponentially juicier moral outrages to shout about. $80k in today's schemes isn't a grain of sand on a beachful. Check out a Haliburton government contract if you want to go into apoplexy.

[JGC97]

Of course there are more outrageous examples of theft. I won't disagree with you on that. I still don't see the harm in pointing out the thievery still going on after the Governor's hissy-fit last year about unnecessary spending within the State.

It’s like the old Soviet joke about a soldier who’d pass through the border each day, pushing a wheelbarrow full of sand. Every day, the guard would sift through the sand, sure the man was stealing but he couldn't figure it out. Month after month, this went on until the end of the war. One night, the two men met again in a pub and over an ale, the former guard told the old soldier he was sure the guy was stealing something but he could never prove it. The old soldier grinned at the guy and sipped his ale. Finally, the guard asked the soldier. "What were you stealing?" The soldier replied, "wheel barrows."

That’s the point. You may want to focus on the bigger thefts but little ones add up, too. Stealing is stealing. When taxpayers turn over their $$ to bureaucrats, they expect more than just having to foot the bill for their airline tickets or whatever private perk they think they are entitled to.

[NewToCA]

Originally Posted by nullgeo

No minimum charge ... But the principle is: "Wading through $20 bills to pick up a nickel".
IMHO, it's a waste of a good rant when there are so many other exponentially juicier moral outrages to shout about. $80k in today's schemes isn't a grain of sand on a beachful. Check out a Haliburton government contract if you want to go into apoplexy.

Pure nonsense null, monitoring this is certainly a legitimate California issue. This is a California topic, your other concerns are national issues.

Also, of greater concern to me is what internal controls were breached to allow this travel to go on for this period of time undetected? Why did it take an internal whistle blower to make this potential abuse stop?

Is there a void of appropriate internal controls, or were some not working as intended?

All legitimate issues.