Carrie Lopez, Director, Department of Consumer Affairs
Consumer Affairs.. lol
Posted on 02/28/2009 11:15:07 AM PST by NormsRevenge
Reporting from Sacramento -- John Cruz, the appointments secretary for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, lives hundreds of miles from the state Capitol, where his staff scrutinizes candidates for California's many boards and commissions.
When Cruz works there, he goes by plane. He has charged taxpayers for his flights and for hotel bills of up to $382 a night on regular trips between his Orange County home and Sacramento, records show.
Carrie Lopez, director of the Department of Consumer Affairs, charged taxpayers to fly from Sacramento, where she works, to Los Angeles, where she lives, to attend a Justin Timberlake concert with her daughter. She listed the trip on her expense report as a meeting with the energy company that paid for the concert tickets. Lopez also billed the state for meals on days she received those meals for free from corporations, according to state records.
Rosario Marin, head of the State and Consumer Services Agency, blamed a miscommunication for her failure to repay $582 the state spent to fly her to Washington in July to speak at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, an appearance for which she received $1,000. She reimbursed the state for the airfare after The Times inquired about the trip last month.
Over the last two years, as California has slashed services and scrambled to pay bills, top administration officials have made free use of government expense accounts with little oversight and, in some cases, no documentation, The Times has found.
Together, they have spent tens of thousands of dollars on state-funded trips between Sacramento and the areas where they live, justifying the travel as necessary for state business. Some built weekend trips around one short meeting, and some charged the state to attend events with no apparent connection to their jobs. ...
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Bite me Arnold.
The same dirtballs flying around in jets whenever it suits their fancy are also pushing the Global Warming swill...
I just cannot get out of my head the breathtaking hypocrisy of Pelosi who, after joining her Dem cohorts in excoriating Auto Company CEO’s for taking company jets to Washington, promptly took of on a Gov’t all expenses paid trip for her, her staff, her Dem peers and, presumably ‘friends’ to Italy on a ‘Fact Finding’ junket. Of course she used one of the 100’s of Gov’t jets to get there and back in luxury and privacy. She did this shortly after ramming through the Porkulus Bill that neither she nor its supporters had read (With the exception of those pet project sections they had inserted).
This ‘free and easy’ attitude extends throughout the ranks. The state’s auditor did a study a few years back and found maintenance employees who were filling up their cars at the state gas pumps. As it does with entitlement spending, the legislature is very careful to limit funding for fraud detection to the bare minimum that will let them claim to be “prudent” with our money while not having any significant impact on those who are backing up the wheelbarrows to the state vault.
Time to start downsizing the public sector. Big time.
It has largely gone unreported that Arnold has appointed some of the most radical people around to state agencies. This is completely outrageous behavior and typical of Arnold. Those of you who claim to be conservative and voted for the recall and for Arnold ought to be *itch slapped.
Rosario Marin. pffft!
Looks like Cruz was one of Mike Carona’s boys.
http://gov.ca.gov/press-release/7119/
08/09/2007 GAAS:632:07
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Governor Schwarzenegger Appoints John Cruz Appointments Secretary
...
Cruz has served as a commissioner on the California Gambling Control Commission (CGCC) since 2005. He has been licensed to practice law in California since 1979 and specialized in real estate, business and transactional law. In 1992, Cruz founded the law firm of Daehnke & Cruz, where he practiced until becoming a commissioner for CGCC. Previous to that, he served as an associate and as of counsel with several law firms located in Southern California, as well as having his own private practice.
Cruz is and has been an active member of his community in a variety of civic endeavors. From 2002 to 2007, he served as an appointed member to the Federal Service Impasses Panel, where he worked to resolve impasses between federal agencies and unions representing federal employees. In addition, Cruz is a former officer and trustee for the Orange County Hispanic Bar Association and previously served as a member of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Technical Reserve Program. Currently, he is a co-founding and active member of Hispanic 100 and also serves on the Santa Ana Education Foundation Board of Directors.
Cruz, Lopez, Marin..corrupt, corrupt, corrupt...
Oh, wait, I would certainly be reprimanded for seeing a pattern here.
04/16/2007 GAAS:289:07
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Governor Schwarzenegger Appoints Carrie Lopez Director of
...
Lopez has served as executive director of the civic leadership organization, the Coro Foundation since 1997, where she oversees development strategies and programs for the Foundation. Before being promoted to executive director, she served as director of programs and training and associate trainer for the Foundation. From 1996 to 1997, Lopez worked for the City of San Diego as an organizational effectiveness specialist. Prior to working for the City of San Diego, she served as a community relations manager for the Pacific Gateway Group from 1994 to 1996 handling two public contracts encompassing community outreach and environmental compliance. Lopez previously was a program specialist for the Los Angeles Educational Alliance for Restructuring Now, where she assisted in policy development and the facilitation of LEARN, a program to improve student achievement through improved governance and parent engagement in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Prior to that, Lopez was a legislative aide for State Senator Nicholas Petris from 1990 to 1991. She is a tribal member of the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians, serves as chair of the California HOPE Leadership Institute and is a member of the Latino Issues Forum and Hispanas Organized for Political Equality Board. Lopez is also a former member of the Oceanside Homeless Task Force, the Los Angeles Board of Library Commissioners and Los Angeles Mayor’s Budget Advisory Committee.
... Lopez, 39, of Los Angeles, earned a Masters degree in public administration from the JFK School of Government at Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Davis. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $142,965. Lopez is a Democrat.
Carrie Lopez, Director, Department of Consumer Affairs
Consumer Affairs.. lol
Oh yeah. lol
The confessed illegal alien in this cultural junta..
But ... she claims no responsibility since she was a teen and sneaked into LA at the direction of her father, who was here legally on a work visa.
What’s upsetting about this is that Arnold signed AB 32 the greenhouse gas regulating bill that has or will hammer all small business folks in California that use diesel trucks, tractors, generators, construction equipment, etc. to limit their carbon footprints. Why doesn’t he put the same restrictions on his staff? I’m a Republican but the hell with him and the hell with all of the elites in his staff.
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