Sciguy
01-18-2009, 05:19 PM
As someone who has been keeping an eye on the California Integrated Waste Management Board for many years, I can state that this is a useless body that was only created for governors to shift state money to favored loyalists while still remaining barely within legality. They do nothing of any use to society. They foster garbage creation and serve the interests of the garbage industry. Schwarzenegger campaigned on eliminating them but apparently cannot overcome political cronyism in the gov't. With something like 450 board employees (in one report I read, incredible though it sounds) they represent many millions of dollars of money sloshing thru Sac'to unaccountable to the public but adding to the deficit.
As you look thru government outlays, you can find hundreds of imbalances like this. Even in our Sonoma County, any project that the county just wants to fund for any reason seems to be able to find a spare $100,000 or so any time. I took note of a totally purposeless recent study of "waste composition" that was done here. There have been about ten thousand (guess!) such studies done around the country in the last thirty years, most by the EPA but also by every county and city, including Sonoma County. They no longer tell us anything of any value, yet the Sonoma county Joint Powers Authority had no problem finding the $100,000 to throw out in one more useless study of garbage. As citizens, we should not be just reading the papers and shaking our heads but we should be rooting out these egregious wastes of public funds that the political elites indulge in, and we should be demanding to know who gets the money and for what actual reason.
Until boondoggles like this CIWMB board and many other astronomical salaries are eliminated, cutting off low level employees should be scoffed at as the gov't trying to pull the wool over our eyes, using the economic crisis as a tool to befuddle the public. Paul Palmer
Schwarzenegger gives lucrative board seats to ex-legislators and aides
While ordering pay cuts for most state workers, the governor has named three officials to state boards overseeing unemployment insurance appeals and waste disposal. The jobs have six-figure salaries.
By Patrick McGreevy
January 18, 2009
Reporting from Sacramento -- As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger orders steep salary cuts for most of the state workforce, some Sacramento players are doing much better by him.
The governor has added state legislators and former political aides to the state payroll, with six-figure salaries. Their positions: plum posts on the same state boards and commissions that the governor crusaded to abolish a few years ago, calling them a waste of taxpayer money.
https://www.latimes.com/media/thumbnails/story/2009-01/44428303-08163832.jpg (https://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-ed-budget9-2009jan09,0,5527939.story) A California budget -- or else (https://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-ed-budget9-2009jan09,0,5527939.story)
California controller to suspend tax refunds, welfare checks, student grants (https://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-budget17-2009jan17,0,4472460.story)
Governor orders state offices to close 2 days a month (https://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-budget10-2009jan10,0,6967415.story)
Lawsuit seeking to block California Democrats' tax hikes is tossed out (https://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-budget8-2009jan08,0,472472.story)Two GOP lawmakers who recently left office and have limited expertise in thorny employment issues have received jobs at the state Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. The panel met 12 times last year, and members are paid $128,109.
"It's a soft landing spot for ex-elected officials who can make a good living while showing up 12 times a year," said Joel Fox, an antitax advocate who worked on the governor's aborted plan to shut down the boards. "The positions should be eliminated."
Seats on state boards have long been awarded to lawmakers loyal to governors and legislative leaders.
But Schwarzenegger made the most recent appointments just days after ordering 238,000 state workers to be furloughed two days a month or take an equivalent pay cut of about 9%. He also requested that the state payroll be reduced an additional 10%, including layoffs if necessary.
"People were very disgusted and upset about it," said Sandie Luke, president of a Northern California council for the Service Employees International Union, Local 1000. The local represents 95,000 white-collar workers.
She faulted the governor and his staff, saying: "It makes you wonder what their priorities are."
Administration spokeswoman Rachel Cameron said lawmakers balked at abolishing the boards and folding their operations into other agencies, so the governor is left with no choice but to fill vacant seats. And she said the handling of unemployment appeals is more crucial than ever because of the sour economy.
"The governor still has an obligation to continue to appoint the best qualified people to carry out this function," she said.
The two posts went to Bonnie Garcia of Cathedral City and George Plescia of La Jolla. Schwarzenegger's office announced the appointments on New Year's Eve.
A few weeks earlier Schwarzenegger had appointed state Sen. Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) to a $132,000 seat on a board that meets once a month to oversee trash disposal in the state. Migden lost her reelection bid and had to leave the Legislature at the end of November.
The governor made the appointment even though he has twice recommended eliminating the trash board, most recently in his budget proposal for the next fiscal year, now pending before the Legislature. Still, his former scheduling director chairs the board, and two other former Democratic lawmakers were added to its payroll by legislative leaders late last year.
Another panel, the state Personnel Board, includes onetime Schwarzenegger aides appointed earlier: Patricia Clarey, his former chief of staff, and Richard Costigan, former deputy chief of staff.
The governor believes Garcia and Plescia are appropriate to their new positions, Cameron said. "They are both great public servants with a desire to continue serving the people of California in this new role," she said.
Garcia once served as vice chairwoman of the Assembly Committee on Jobs and Economic Development, and she noted she has a college degree in workforce development.
Plescia, who did not return calls for comment, does not list in the resume he submitted to the governor's office any previous work involving unemployment insurance or employment issues.
Migden was appointed to the waste board, Cameron said, on the recommendation of Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), "because she has held several elected positions throughout local and state government for nearly 20 years and her background will serve well in this new role."
And Migden defended her own qualifications. "Throughout my career in public service, I've looked for ways to solve problems," she said.
In 2005, as part of his California Performance Review process, Schwarzenegger proposed eliminating 88 state boards and commissions, including those to which he has now appointed Garcia, Plescia and Migden.
As you look thru government outlays, you can find hundreds of imbalances like this. Even in our Sonoma County, any project that the county just wants to fund for any reason seems to be able to find a spare $100,000 or so any time. I took note of a totally purposeless recent study of "waste composition" that was done here. There have been about ten thousand (guess!) such studies done around the country in the last thirty years, most by the EPA but also by every county and city, including Sonoma County. They no longer tell us anything of any value, yet the Sonoma county Joint Powers Authority had no problem finding the $100,000 to throw out in one more useless study of garbage. As citizens, we should not be just reading the papers and shaking our heads but we should be rooting out these egregious wastes of public funds that the political elites indulge in, and we should be demanding to know who gets the money and for what actual reason.
Until boondoggles like this CIWMB board and many other astronomical salaries are eliminated, cutting off low level employees should be scoffed at as the gov't trying to pull the wool over our eyes, using the economic crisis as a tool to befuddle the public. Paul Palmer
Schwarzenegger gives lucrative board seats to ex-legislators and aides
While ordering pay cuts for most state workers, the governor has named three officials to state boards overseeing unemployment insurance appeals and waste disposal. The jobs have six-figure salaries.
By Patrick McGreevy
January 18, 2009
Reporting from Sacramento -- As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger orders steep salary cuts for most of the state workforce, some Sacramento players are doing much better by him.
The governor has added state legislators and former political aides to the state payroll, with six-figure salaries. Their positions: plum posts on the same state boards and commissions that the governor crusaded to abolish a few years ago, calling them a waste of taxpayer money.
https://www.latimes.com/media/thumbnails/story/2009-01/44428303-08163832.jpg (https://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-ed-budget9-2009jan09,0,5527939.story) A California budget -- or else (https://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-ed-budget9-2009jan09,0,5527939.story)
California controller to suspend tax refunds, welfare checks, student grants (https://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-budget17-2009jan17,0,4472460.story)
Governor orders state offices to close 2 days a month (https://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-budget10-2009jan10,0,6967415.story)
Lawsuit seeking to block California Democrats' tax hikes is tossed out (https://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-budget8-2009jan08,0,472472.story)Two GOP lawmakers who recently left office and have limited expertise in thorny employment issues have received jobs at the state Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. The panel met 12 times last year, and members are paid $128,109.
"It's a soft landing spot for ex-elected officials who can make a good living while showing up 12 times a year," said Joel Fox, an antitax advocate who worked on the governor's aborted plan to shut down the boards. "The positions should be eliminated."
Seats on state boards have long been awarded to lawmakers loyal to governors and legislative leaders.
But Schwarzenegger made the most recent appointments just days after ordering 238,000 state workers to be furloughed two days a month or take an equivalent pay cut of about 9%. He also requested that the state payroll be reduced an additional 10%, including layoffs if necessary.
"People were very disgusted and upset about it," said Sandie Luke, president of a Northern California council for the Service Employees International Union, Local 1000. The local represents 95,000 white-collar workers.
She faulted the governor and his staff, saying: "It makes you wonder what their priorities are."
Administration spokeswoman Rachel Cameron said lawmakers balked at abolishing the boards and folding their operations into other agencies, so the governor is left with no choice but to fill vacant seats. And she said the handling of unemployment appeals is more crucial than ever because of the sour economy.
"The governor still has an obligation to continue to appoint the best qualified people to carry out this function," she said.
The two posts went to Bonnie Garcia of Cathedral City and George Plescia of La Jolla. Schwarzenegger's office announced the appointments on New Year's Eve.
A few weeks earlier Schwarzenegger had appointed state Sen. Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) to a $132,000 seat on a board that meets once a month to oversee trash disposal in the state. Migden lost her reelection bid and had to leave the Legislature at the end of November.
The governor made the appointment even though he has twice recommended eliminating the trash board, most recently in his budget proposal for the next fiscal year, now pending before the Legislature. Still, his former scheduling director chairs the board, and two other former Democratic lawmakers were added to its payroll by legislative leaders late last year.
Another panel, the state Personnel Board, includes onetime Schwarzenegger aides appointed earlier: Patricia Clarey, his former chief of staff, and Richard Costigan, former deputy chief of staff.
The governor believes Garcia and Plescia are appropriate to their new positions, Cameron said. "They are both great public servants with a desire to continue serving the people of California in this new role," she said.
Garcia once served as vice chairwoman of the Assembly Committee on Jobs and Economic Development, and she noted she has a college degree in workforce development.
Plescia, who did not return calls for comment, does not list in the resume he submitted to the governor's office any previous work involving unemployment insurance or employment issues.
Migden was appointed to the waste board, Cameron said, on the recommendation of Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), "because she has held several elected positions throughout local and state government for nearly 20 years and her background will serve well in this new role."
And Migden defended her own qualifications. "Throughout my career in public service, I've looked for ways to solve problems," she said.
In 2005, as part of his California Performance Review process, Schwarzenegger proposed eliminating 88 state boards and commissions, including those to which he has now appointed Garcia, Plescia and Migden.