The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

SCROLL TO BOTTOM FOR KATRINA PORK INFORMATION!!!$25k for a laptop? Hmmm.

Government watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste has just released their annual Piglet book for the state of California. This 32 page report outlines in great detail the pork-barrel spending that has become the norm in the golden state. Needless to say I became so enraged after reading it that I had to walk away from my computer several times. I’ll provide you with some highlights, but please take the time read it at your leisure even if you are not a resident of California. Later, I add some of my thoughts.

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The Contra Costa Times revealed on December 8, 2004 that the city of Oakland paid nearly $97 million to 811 city employees, many in public safety jobs, who earned at least $100,000 between July 2003 and June 2004. Such mismanagement allows overtime costs to create financial havoc in a city budget. The newspaper found that “Many employees made base salaries well below $100,000 but received extras that pushed their pay much higher. It remains unclear what the extra earnings include in most cases. Escalating department head earnings are of particular concern because those employees do not qualify for overtime.” Top earners include “Fire Battalion Chief Edward J. Kilmartin IV, who made $230,400 with a base salary of $128,300” and Oakland’s “Web master, Taina Everett, [who] made $187,386 on a base salary of $85,100.” Roughly 57 percent of the city’s fire employees topped the $100,000 salary mark last year as well.

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On June 19, 2004, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported that Los Angeles County’s overtime costs were going through the roof, despite serious budget problems. More specifically, “A review of three of the five county departments that spent the most on overtime in 2002-03 reveals 1,395 employees earned more than $10,000 apiece in overtime, 390 were able to boost their salaries more than 50 percent through overtime and eight employees more than doubled their annual income.” Poor management combined with a lack of cost control has increased the woes of this fiscally troubled county. While sometimes overtime is necessary, this expensive practice shouldn’t be abused.

For example, payroll records obtained came out as the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors was set to begin deliberations on overtime. Among the Telegram’s findings: “A deputy probation officer, paid $60,019 a year, also pocketed an extra $77,352 in overtime. A probation camp cook made $39,280 a year and also collected $46,322 in overtime. A hospital nurse practitioner, paid $81,021 a year, also raked in $93,967 in overtime. And a hospital doctor in the Antelope Valley wound up becoming the highest-paid county employee in history, boosting her $224,864 salary with $70,690 in overtime for record-setting pay of $295,554, surpassing the county’s top salary of $279,125 earned by her boss, Dr. Thomas Garthwaite, director of the county health department.”

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While Pomona council members make a part-time salary of $10,000 per year, the decision to appoint themselves to these commissions pumps up their salary to $40,000. For that extra $30,000 a year, the community development commission meets twice a month for about an hour to discuss and handle housing and redevelopment issues within the city – ostensibly what the city council itself should be doing. Many other cities have been able to do the same job at a much more reasonable cost to taxpayers.

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In an article on November 28, 2004, the Los Angeles Times reported that the five members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors “each get about $1 million a year in discretionary funds to hand out as they see fit, winning thanks from appreciative constituents and cementing their political images with money provided by county taxpayers.” This happens without public notice, vote, or oversight. In fact, according to the Times, during the last five years, county supervisors have maneuvered more than $11 million to projects and causes close to their hearts. This distribution of cash becomes problematic when hospitals and schools are being

threatened with being shut down because there isn’t enough money to go around. In

2005, while the supervisors used their discretionary funds for music festivals and 9

swimming pools, they placed a measure on the ballot that asked voters to raise the sales tax to help the county hire more sheriff’s deputies. Voters said no.

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Apparently the sky is falling on every school district and school officials are telling voters that they need help every chance they get. While blaming Proposition 13 for a lack of school funding, and despite nearly $10,000 per-student spending in kindergarden-12th grade and lavish employee benefits, there is seemingly never enough money to turn the public education system into a resounding success. That might be credible if there were not strong evidence that schools have been wasting tax dollars, which is what really makes it so difficult to make ends meet. On September 24, 2004, the Tri-Valley Herald reported that Oakland schools Administrator Randolph Ward has had a personal bodyguard provided for his safety at the tune of $173,308. While no one would criticize the administrator for having a personal bodyguard when the situation warrants it, Ward’s decision has found its fair share of criticism for other reasons. According to the Herald, Ward first estimated the personal bodyguard expenses to the district would be $70,000. However, “officials later put the cost at $140,000 for a full year.” Like most school projects, this one was underestimated as well. The actual cost to the school district turns out to be $173,308. Board member Greg Hodge is quoted as saying, “I was livid about it when I heard about it (last) spring, because that was right around the time we were laying off campus security officers.”

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On June 28, 2005, the Los Angeles Times reported that parents and teachers in the High Desert district are furious with a recent decision made by school trustees who approved a very generous compensation package to Victorville’s elementary school superintendent, Ralph Baker. This package includes bumping Baker’s current pay up 78.6 percent from $140,000 a year to $250,000; providing health and dental insurance for him and his wife for life; a one-time bonus of $200,000 on August 1, 2005; and $10,000 raises each of the next three years. While parents are putting on fashion shows and silent auctions in the district to help their elementary classrooms pay for filed trips and supplies, many “are taking the $1.2 million contract as a personal affront,” according to the Times. Trustees have been threatened with a recall.

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And here is a gem from the San Francisco Chronicle…

Services cut for students as high-pay jobs boom

2,275 university employees earned more than $200,000 during the last fiscal year

Tanya Schevitz, Todd Wallack, Chronicle Staff Writer

Monday, November 14, 2005

The University of California may have cut student services and maintenance, but not the number of high-paid jobs created over the past two years.

Payroll records show that 2,275 university employees earned more than $200,000 last fiscal year, up 30 percent over two years. The number of employees making at least $300,000 annually climbed 54 percent to 496 last year. Some employees got raises. Others were hired or promoted to new posts with increased salaries. (more…)

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If you have not already noticed, much of this out of control spending greatly affects large urban areas where there are high concentrations of those that live in poverty.

It is this kind of detail that needs to be injected in our discussions (both online and offline) regarding the state of black America. I single out blacks in this case simply because we suffer the greatest from pork barrel spending by our state and local officials. Our knowledge of this level of detail is usually limited to what articulate word smiths who posture themselves as “leaders” want us to know. These word smiths will only bring up portions of these much needed details–just enough to underscore the point they wish to make (example: “While Bush is spending billions in Iraq, there are kids in inner-city schools that do not have the supplies they need for a proper education.” A person that seeks the full truth will then ask the question “What about the billions that have passed through the hands of local officials?” This type of questioning does not eliminate the responsibilities at the federal level. Instead, your goal should be to get a full picture of the issue. ) In my latest commentary”The real reasons behind teacher shortages in urban schools” I provide you, the reader with information that goes beyond the rhetoric that tells us that urban schools are underfunded simply because of bad judgments by the president. If you notice, the folks that make these inaccurate claims will never mention fiscal responsibility at the local level.

I greatly encourage you to visit often the website for the nonpartisan organization Citizens Against Government Waste. There, you will be able to look up information on your own local and state representatives.

If we really care about the plight of the poor and disadvantaged in our country, the pork-barrel spending issue is something that must be a regular part of black political discussion. To rely on simple catch phrases and over-simplified formulas that score us tit-for-tat political points is just foolish.

The “Pork” of Katrina relief spending

Information provided by Taxpayers for Common Sense

These are just some highlights of peculiar budget spending. Click here to view detailed reports.

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Hurricane Katrina Relief and Rebuilding

Sources: FPDS, FEMA, USACE

• The Geological Survey (Dept. of Interior) purchased 230 Firewires from CDW

from Xerox Corporation.

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I will try to spotlight other states in the near future, so stay tuned!!!