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State employees play: You pay

June 30, 2010

Time once again for another state auditor’s report of state employees misbehaving on company time. [California Watch]

Many of the investigations were based on whistleblower complaints and address a wide range of sordid allegations including: taking improper gifts, falsifying travel expenses, and failing to report used vacation time. The result is a cost to California taxpayers of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

You can read the full report here.

Some highlights:

Participating in other employment during state work hours and misusing state resources at a total cost to the State of $70,105.

Misusing the time of two psychiatric technicians, resulting in a loss to the State of $110,797.

Improperly allowing a business owner to use state university facilities, equipment, and supplies costing $20,790.

Claiming $392 in travel expenses not incurred and violating state law by accepting gifts in the form of substantial hotel discounts.

Failing to report 82 hours of leave taken, for which the State paid $2,605.

Receiving at least $1,840 in gifts from a vendor, thus creating the appearance that the gifts were rewards for doing business.

Failing to account accurately for absences that cost $1,206.

Improperly exempting an estimated 3,000 after-school education programs from child care licensing requirements.


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Good article but whats it gonna take for folks in this county to open their eyes to the local ethics issues and ask some questions? It’s there guaranteed, anyone remember the Pismo building department scandal years ago? Its time to question so called “lowest rate” contractors and engineering services from long term providers . What ever happen to advertising and open competitive bidding for government jobs??


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As a one person biz owner it enrages me to think I’ll be going to work every morning( for these leeches) past my retirement age so that I may earn money to pay taxes to pay their bills while they sleep late. Not only are they pushing the country towards socialism they are destroying the free enterprise system.

Go to college, earn your ticket to get your government/corp. “job” then cruise thru to retirement and let the illegals do the real work. Look what we did to our kids, our country, ourselves.

The reason government pushes so hard to keep illegals rushing in is because they are the only group who produce anything that’s really needed. Sadly, due to worthless local, state and federal “jobs” nobody is taking care of biz which is called laboring . Technology? A joke, we’re splitting hairs now. We’re just like the monkeys in “research” programs to test intelligence who are given little boxes with buttons and lights to measure intelligence. Time to get dirty, whitey. That’ll NEVER change.


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In 2007 California had the 2nd lowest number of full-time equivalent state

government employees relative to population among all states. California had

103 state employees for every 10,000 residents while Illinois had the lowest ratio

at 97. The U.S. average was 143 state employees per 10,000 residents.

California’s ratio of state government employees relative to population was 28%

below the national average. A large percentage of state employees work in K-12 EDUCATION.


This article does not take into consideration all of the volunteer time teachers give to everything

from coaching to cheerleading and school clubs. The headlines of this article are misleading, inflamatory when the last thing we need right now is inflamatory, and an insult to all state workers who give far and beyond what their job requires.


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You know marypress… somehow I don’t think that those state workers who give far and above what their job requires are really insulted.. In fact, I bet they’re constantly irritated by most of the state employees around them, and they would totally agree with the criticisms and stereotypes of state employees. They’re probably relieved that people are finally starting to really take notice, as it could mean that their hard work will now be valued instead of discouraged by other staff. That’s how I felt when I worked for a state company (UC system). I think instead that it is the ones who take advantage of the system that use that argument for cover.


When I worked for the UC system, I was never in any way insulted by criticisms levied against the staff, because I knew they were true. I also noticed that a lot of staff resented the initiative and hard work I brought to the job and in general people tried to convince me not to rock the boat. But ultimately I faired well as a non-union employee and was spared in rounds of layoffs even without seniority. The irony is that despite the attempts of several senior leaders to provide new opportunities for me, I was restricted by rules which had been established as a result of all the collective bargaining and “egalitarian” measures… e.g. no increase greater than 15% in one year… No vertical movement more than two grades higher. So I left.


And frankly, I don’t care if the California has the 1st lowest number of state FTEs per capita… it’s still way WAY too many. Comparing it against other bloated inefficient state governments really has no relevance.


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Its time for a DO OVER. We need to allow the state to enter into bankrupcy and then start over. Any state employee not willing to renegotiate their position and retirement package can quit. No loss, there are plenty of unemployed willing to get the state dole.


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Nothing new here, exactly why the states economy is in the tank? Those little drops add up after awhile…


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Compare to war profiteering, corporate fraud, campaign finance bogglement (and lobbying etc)-as Roger said, these little things are a drop in the bucket of public rip offs. These should get cleared up but the big stuff is happening with little oversight. Damn shame.


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Bingo, “hotdog”. The U.S.signed weapons agreements valued at 25.4 billion in ’08 then up to 37.8 billion in ’09, up 50% in a yr. during a bad recession,The sign of a desparate policy.We produce more than the next seventeen countries put together. Number two in the world was Italy but they only produced 10.8 billion, that sale was to Moscow. The only business worse than Wall st. I agree this isn’t to be compared to the utility worker leaning on his shovel too long .


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…. a drop in the bucket.


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Agreed, but it’s reflects the attitudes of indifference and lack of accountability which ultimately result in the bucket as a whole


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