CA: Asset mismanagement

LA Daily News ^ | 8/11/05 | Opinion

[NormsRevenge]

Anyone who's ever temporarily "lost" a car in a parking garage - and that's most people - would surely be understanding if the state government "misplaced" one of its thousands of fleet cars occasionally. But 30,000?

A recent audit of the state fleet of 70,000 vehicles, as part of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's push to aggressively manage the government's assets, found that as many as 30,000 can't be accounted for. Five or 10 missing would be simple mismanagement. Losing track of 30,000 cars would require a remarkable feat of negligence, ineptitude or corruption - or some combination thereof.

Not only does it show a supreme lack of accounting, it also gives taxpayers a real-world example of just how bureaucrats regard their role as stewards of public treasury.

Assuming an average value for each vehicle of $10,000, that's $30 million that's vanished from the state coffers. Thanks, Sacramento!

Of course, the state-owned vehicles probably aren't really missing. It's just that no one can remember where they were parked.

[NormsRevenge]

Losing track of 30,000 cars would require a remarkable feat of negligence, ineptitude or corruption - or some combination thereof.

[longtermmemmory]

Just think of the scandals when the state files missing auto police reports and the vin numbers start "popping" up on used car lots.

[Restorer]

Math alert!

30,000 cars times $10,000 each = $300M, not $30M.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

They're in Mexico. Bet money on it.

[Nice50BMG]

Losing track of 30,000 cars would require a remarkable feat of negligence, ineptitude or corruption - or some combination thereof.

Have you ever met a group of State workers? Your description is perfect.

[calcowgirl]

Losing track of 30,000 cars would require a remarkable feat of negligence, ineptitude or corruption - or some combination thereof.

But, but, but... they were able to find more than half of them. ;-)

[NormsRevenge]

Ya'd think the least the state could do is get a good bulk discount deal on LoJack systems.. lolol

[zerosix]

"state vehicles aren't really missing . . . no one can remember where they parked." If CA State employees were like the Kansas City School District's "Computer Magnet" School, they would find that they had been ordered, paid for in advance but missing in their storage when employees were preparing for opening day but not to worry, none of the teachers who were to teach at that school had computer training themselves.

PRIVATIZE, PRIVATIZE, PRIVATIZE all government functions other than the U.S. Military (and I'm not sure about many higher ups at the Pentagon - too old, too entrenched in big government bureaucracy.)