California Parks Director Resigns Amid Scandal - Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum

LYIN' KING · 07-20-2012, 12:01 PM

California parks director resigns amid scandal

By Matt Weiser
mweiser@sacbee.com

Published: Friday, Jul. 20, 2012 - 11:00 am

State Parks Director Ruth Coleman resigned this morning and her second in command has been fired after officials learned the department has been sitting on nearly $54 million in surplus money for as long as 12 years.

The moves come in the wake of a scandal, revealed by The Bee on Sunday, in which a deputy director at State Parks carried out a secret vacation buyout program for employees at department headquarters last year. That buyout cost the state more than $271,000.

The Bee began inquiring about rumors of a surplus when it learned about the buyout, and submitted a Public Records Act request for the fund data on Wednesday.

John Laird, secretary of the state Natural Resources Agency, which oversees State Parks, told The Bee that investigations have been launched by both the Attorney General's office and the Department of Finance to figure out how -- and why -- the Department of Parks and Recreation squirreled away so much money for so long.

"Ruth has stepped up and taken personal responsibility," Laird said of Coleman, who is the longest-serving director in the 150-year history of the department. "It's an incredibly troubling discovery."

Laird emphasized that it remains unclear who is to blame for the surplus, and whether it is linked to the vacation buyout, which sources told The Bee was carried out by Manuel Thomas Lopez, 45, of Granite Bay, who was demoted in October and then resigned in May.

The surplus money consists of $20.3 million in the Parks and Recreation Fund, and $33.5 million in the Off HIghway Vehicle Fund, which are the two primary operating funds at the agency. This money was not reported to either Finance or the State Controller's Office, in contrast to normal budgeting procedures.

The department sat on the money for unknown reasons even as it carried out, over the past year, the unprecedented closure of 70 parks to satisfy state budget cuts.

Most of those closures did not occur because nonprofits and local governments found money to take over the parks. The money could also have prevented drastic cutbacks in hours, staffing and services that have stricken nearly every park in the state over the past two years.

In an interview Friday morning with The Bee, Laird said the discovered funds are "one-time" money and it will be up to the Legislature to decide how to use it.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/20/464...#storylink=cpy

fermentor · 07-20-2012, 12:07 PM

Enron would be proud of that bookkeeping......................

Bebe · 07-20-2012, 12:09 PM

Fire the CROOKS!!!

88bigvan · 07-20-2012, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bebe

Fire the CROOKS!!!

Fire them, give the $$ back to OHV, tie it all to Karen and throw her in jail and take all the travel managment back to 1976 and all is good

randii · 07-20-2012, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LYIN' KING

The surplus money consists of $20.3 million in the Parks and Recreation Fund, and $33.5 million in the Off HIghway Vehicle Fund, which are the two primary operating funds at the agency. This money was not reported to either Finance or the State Controller's Office, in contrast to normal budgeting procedures.

Two separate things here... the OHV Fund is certainly no secret, but 20+ million in Parks and Recs with closures bemoaned so heavily, WTF?

More details will be interesting, but Coleman resigning is surely a good thing, one that will hopefully be confirmed by naming *GOOD* Directors and Deputies... seems like there's excellent opportunity for a major renovation.

Randii

atvobsession · 07-20-2012, 12:55 PM

WE WANT OUR MONEY BACK.

JOE SIMITIAN.....UNDO it.

MikeMc · 07-20-2012, 01:20 PM

Don't expect anything good to be done with the $54M. The state will take that away real fast under the guise of use-it-or-lose-it.

mannysouza · 07-20-2012, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 88bigvan

Fire them, give the $$ back to OHV, tie it all to Karen and throw her in jail and take all the travel managment back to 1976 and all is good

Ahhh, that would be nice. Everyone can wheel and never see each other on the trail because there would be so many trails again!

Black01taco · 07-20-2012, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 88bigvan

Fire them, give the $$ back to OHV, tie it all to Karen and throw her in jail and take all the travel managment back to 1976 and all is good

x2

RockMolester · 07-20-2012, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mannysouza

Ahhh, that would be nice. Everyone can wheel and never see each other on the trail because there would be so many trails again!

California would be heaven again!

J-Bone · 07-22-2012, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bebe

Fire the CROOKS!!!

No, prosecute the crooks.

OrangeCrash · 07-22-2012, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J-Bone

No, prosecute the crooks.

Good point, bet she's barely in her 40's and I wonder what kind of fat retirement package she's walking away with.....

mannysouza · 07-22-2012, 06:46 PM

That retirement should be stripped from her. Dishonorable discharge.

California would be what it should be, before the greedy got their hands into everything. John Muir would be ashamed!

OrangeCrash · 07-22-2012, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mannysouza

That retirement should be stripped from her. Dishonorable discharge.

California would be what it should be, before the greedy got their hands into everything. John Muir would be ashamed!

I would like to know some are saying she's just a sacrificall lamb the Governor is offering us to support his tax initiative, what I do know is she got paid over a Million Dollars of the tax payers hard learned money over the years so I'm not seeing much accountability here........

LYIN' KING · 07-22-2012, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeMc

Don't expect anything good to be done with the $54M.

Reality sucks but this is it!!!

mannysouza · 07-23-2012, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeMc

Don't expect anything good to be done with the $54M.

Never did, lol.

fermentor · 07-23-2012, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrangeCrash

Good point, bet she's barely in her 40's and I wonder what kind of fat retirement package she's walking away with.....

She's 52. You can retire at 50 if you have 5 years service. She has a little over 15 years service.
Standard formula is 2%/per year at 55 of final compensation, about $60K in this case.
Not sure how it works if younger than 55. Probably a bunch of state workers here that might know.
At this time, they can still purchase additional years of service, up to 5 years worth.
I'd like to see 5 years prison time.

LYIN' KING · 07-23-2012, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fermentor

She's 52. You can retire at 50 if you have 5 years service. She has a little over 15 years service.
Standard formula is 2%/per year at 55 of final compensation, about $60K in this case.
Not sure how it works if younger than 55. Probably a bunch of state workers here that might know.
At this time, they can still purchase additional years of service, up to 5 years worth.
I'd like to see 5 years prison time.

If she retired right now at 52 (1.46%), her final pay would have to have been $260K with 15 years of service in order to receive $60K.

No login required . . . http://www.calpers.ca.gov/index.jsp?...ement/rpcs.xml

Perhaps I missed it but gotta wonder what the heck she thought they could do with that "off the record" $53M?

fermentor · 07-23-2012, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LYIN' KING

If she retired right now at 52 (1.46%), her final pay would have to have been $260K with 15 years of service in order to receive $60K.

No login required . . . http://www.calpers.ca.gov/index.jsp?...ement/rpcs.xml

My bad, example I used was 55 and 20 years.

But if she was to wait until 55, and bought the extra time, 40% of $150K = $60K. Most folks I know could get by on that.

roarksupply.com · 07-23-2012, 01:20 PM

Normally I feel good about paying the State Park Fees, etc, its for a good cause.

Hopefully they were hiding it for good reason. Didn't the state of CA take $100mm from the State Parks when it went broke a couple years ago?

LYIN' KING · 07-23-2012, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fermentor

My bad, example I used was 55 and 20 years.

But if she was to wait until 55, and bought the extra time, 40% of $150K = $60K. Most folks I know could get by on that.

Oh, no bad . . .

I was just pointing out that would be the salary required to achieve the $60K income level were she to retire at 52.

The buy "extra service credits" deal is a non-starter for most as it is expensive, results in a minimal yearly increase and would take forever to break even in most folks cases.

Better to operate straight up, not get fired and put a few more years in.

LYIN' KING · 07-23-2012, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roarksupply.com

Normally I feel good about paying the State Park Fees, etc, its for a good cause.

Hopefully they were hiding it for good reason. Didn't the state of CA take $100mm from the State Parks when it went broke a couple years ago?

All else aside, it was clearly illegal as it flys in the face of accepted SOP, can think of no valid reason to have done it nor how they could possibly have gotten away with it . . . JMHO!

Runzoff · 07-23-2012, 02:11 PM

Get the rope, we'll find a tree.....

J-Bone · 07-23-2012, 04:20 PM

The sacbee had to file a freedom of information request. Then the shit hit the fan. The Deputy got shit canned. Did they walk the plank for the guv? I don't know, but it sure happened FAST

Mad Machinist · 07-23-2012, 05:36 PM

As fast as this happened, you can bet they are trying to cover something bigger up. Keep digging.

07-20-2012, 12:01 PM	#1 (permalink)
LYIN' KING Registered User Join Date: Apr 2001 Member # 3975 Posts: 1,672	California Parks Director Resigns Amid Scandal California parks director resigns amid scandal By Matt Weiser mweiser@sacbee.com Published: Friday, Jul. 20, 2012 - 11:00 am State Parks Director Ruth Coleman resigned this morning and her second in command has been fired after officials learned the department has been sitting on nearly $54 million in surplus money for as long as 12 years. The moves come in the wake of a scandal, revealed by The Bee on Sunday, in which a deputy director at State Parks carried out a secret vacation buyout program for employees at department headquarters last year. That buyout cost the state more than $271,000. The Bee began inquiring about rumors of a surplus when it learned about the buyout, and submitted a Public Records Act request for the fund data on Wednesday. John Laird, secretary of the state Natural Resources Agency, which oversees State Parks, told The Bee that investigations have been launched by both the Attorney General's office and the Department of Finance to figure out how -- and why -- the Department of Parks and Recreation squirreled away so much money for so long. "Ruth has stepped up and taken personal responsibility," Laird said of Coleman, who is the longest-serving director in the 150-year history of the department. "It's an incredibly troubling discovery." Laird emphasized that it remains unclear who is to blame for the surplus, and whether it is linked to the vacation buyout, which sources told The Bee was carried out by Manuel Thomas Lopez, 45, of Granite Bay, who was demoted in October and then resigned in May. The surplus money consists of $20.3 million in the Parks and Recreation Fund, and $33.5 million in the Off HIghway Vehicle Fund, which are the two primary operating funds at the agency. This money was not reported to either Finance or the State Controller's Office, in contrast to normal budgeting procedures. The department sat on the money for unknown reasons even as it carried out, over the past year, the unprecedented closure of 70 parks to satisfy state budget cuts. Most of those closures did not occur because nonprofits and local governments found money to take over the parks. The money could also have prevented drastic cutbacks in hours, staffing and services that have stricken nearly every park in the state over the past two years. In an interview Friday morning with The Bee, Laird said the discovered funds are "one-time" money and it will be up to the Legislature to decide how to use it. Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/20/464...#storylink=cpy

07-20-2012, 12:07 PM	#2 (permalink)
fermentor Phobohomic Join Date: Oct 2005 Member # 55687 Location: sacramento Posts: 856	Enron would be proud of that bookkeeping...................... __________________ Dale RUBICON ROCK HEADS ______________________________________________ R.I.P. Dennis Mayer. W2DWM. Rubicon Rock Head & Pirate of the Rubicon.

07-20-2012, 12:09 PM	#3 (permalink)
Bebe flamethrower Join Date: Jul 2006 Member # 75270 Location: Auburn, CA Posts: 8,377	Fire the CROOKS!!! __________________ What's all the Hub-bub about Blue Stars??? Click Here MFS H3 Long Travel Build Bink'sFab Capt Ahab FZJ80 Build My Dad's cool HotRod Junk Haulin the Groceries AND Haulin the MAIL

07-20-2012, 12:55 PM	#6 (permalink)
atvobsession Team 261 - VP Join Date: Jun 2004 Member # 31923 Posts: 1,735	WE WANT OUR MONEY BACK. JOE SIMITIAN.....UNDO it. __________________ Regards, Ken Hower - KOH #1962 Close Enough Racing Rubicon Trail Foundation - Director 2011-Present Click Here for a calendar of Rubicon Events Raceline Wheels and Falken Tires!! Thanks guys for sponsoring the Tacos at this Years Event!!

07-20-2012, 01:20 PM	#7 (permalink)
MikeMc Alien Surfer Join Date: Jan 2012 Member # 208356 Posts: 42	Don't expect anything good to be done with the $54M. The state will take that away real fast under the guise of use-it-or-lose-it. Last edited by MikeMc; 07-20-2012 at 01:20 PM.

07-22-2012, 06:46 PM	#13 (permalink)
mannysouza Granite Guru Join Date: Sep 2003 Member # 22726 Location: Gilroy Posts: 933	That retirement should be stripped from her. Dishonorable discharge. California would be what it should be, before the greedy got their hands into everything. John Muir would be ashamed! __________________ The more things you own, the more they own you! Last edited by mannysouza; 07-22-2012 at 06:48 PM.

07-23-2012, 01:20 PM	#20 (permalink)
roarksupply.com Fabrication Nation Join Date: Dec 2010 Member # 176241 Location: Orange CA Posts: 1,941	Normally I feel good about paying the State Park Fees, etc, its for a good cause. Hopefully they were hiding it for good reason. Didn't the state of CA take $100mm from the State Parks when it went broke a couple years ago? __________________ 10% Site Wide Discount Code - GRIT Phone: 949-939-6889 Email:tom@roarksupply.com

07-23-2012, 02:11 PM	#23 (permalink)
Runzoff Registered User Join Date: Mar 2011 Member # 186727 Location: SF Bay area Posts: 87	Get the rope, we'll find a tree.....

07-23-2012, 04:20 PM	#24 (permalink)
J-Bone Registered User Join Date: Nov 2001 Member # 8227 Location: San Fernando Valley, California Posts: 546	The sacbee had to file a freedom of information request. Then the shit hit the fan. The Deputy got shit canned. Did they walk the plank for the guv? I don't know, but it sure happened FAST

07-23-2012, 05:36 PM	#25 (permalink)
Mad Machinist Registered User Join Date: Oct 2010 Member # 172378 Location: AZ Posts: 323	As fast as this happened, you can bet they are trying to cover something bigger up. Keep digging.

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