Brown to eliminate California stimulus watchdog

[The Northerner]

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Gov.-elect Jerry Brown is eliminating the office that acted as a watchdog overseeing the spending of federal stimulus money in California.

Inspector General Laura Chick sent a letter on Monday saying the incoming administration will close her office, which was created less than a year ago.

Brown's transition team released a statement saying the move will save more than $700,000 in the current fiscal year.

Chick says the closure was unexpected. More than half the $27 million that has been awarded to state agencies as of Sept. 30 has not yet been spent.

She says Brown faces an "extremely difficult job in grappling with the severity of the state budget crisis."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed the former Los Angeles controller to the $148,000-a-year post in April.

Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_16905385

[villager]

1. Christ, what's next? Winding down the "war" on drugs!?

n/t

[napi21]

2. Why did Arnie think he had to have a waatchdog? I'm positive there are all kind of

reports that have to be filed with the Feds to support the stimulus spending! Sounds like another duplication of effort to me!

[shanti]

4. sounds like another

payoff position for one of his cronies. good that jerry saw it and axed it. she's just whining that she lost her income.

we won't even get started about the contracting out that went on with GAS!

[SoCalDem]

3. Why is so much of the emergency stimulus money still gathering dust, Laura?

:shrug:

Maybe eliminating a department here and there will help..especially one created to "watch" money that was intended to be dumped into the economy..

Laura needs to find a new job.. try Craig's list:)


http://repubclub54.blogspot.com/2009/02/laura-chick-will-vote-no-on-measure-b.html

Friday, February 6, 2009
Laura Chick: Will Vote "NO" on Measure B


snip....
On the city government level, I wholeheartedly support City Controller Laura Chick and other Democrats like her who "get it".

During a press briefing yesterday on the status of the Department of Water and Power yesterday, Laura Chick announced that she would oppose Measure B, the sole-source solar energy project on the March ballot. The consultant group that completed the city charter-required 5-year analysis, PA Consulting, was also the group that completed the initial objective analysis on Measure B, and they defended their projections that the measure would cost two to three times the current estimates being reported by the replacement consultant group, Huron Consulting. The report from Andrew Rea of PA Consulting Group estimated that Measure B would cost up to $3.6 billion, far more than the $1 billion estimate by Huron Consulting, hired by the Department of Water and Power after rejecting the PA Consulting analysis.

snip

Measure B would require the installation of solar panels around the city with a goal of generating 400 megawatts of rooftop solar power by 2014. The Huron report estimated its cost at $1 billion, which would be about $1 a month for the average residential DWP bill. Michael Trujillo, manager of the campaign to support Measure B, stood by the accuracy of the Huron report and its assumptions. "All the recent figures show that the cost of solar is declining as the technology improves," said Trujillo.

snip....

.... Chick said. "We know this will cost something, but the costs are unknown. I will be voting no on this because I think the entire process of how it ended up on the ballot stinks. I think it was not done in an open, understandable or thoughtful way." Measure B was developed by a group known as Working Californians, which included leaders of local IBEW unions. One provision of the measure would require all the installation work to be done only by those unions.

snip

This is what I believe Laura Chick gets that other Democrats do not.

snip