Posted on 10/31/2006 5:30:42 PM PST by NormsRevenge
A taxpayer-funded commission headed by Hollywood producer Rob Reiner awarded media contracts totaling more than $77 million without sufficiently reviewing their costs and was lax in overseeing its deals, California's state auditor reported Tuesday.
Poor oversight of its bills also led the California Children and Families Commission, or First 5, to pay $673,000 in fees and expenses that were prohibited under its own contract and make "questionable payments to contractors for items such as laptop computers valued at $10,000, food catering costs, and monthly parking fees," the report found.
But the auditor concluded the commission did not violate state law by spending $23 million in taxpayer funds on an advertising campaign supporting preschool, just as Reiner sought to get an initiative for universal preschool on the June ballot.
"Our review determined that the state commission had clear legal authority to conduct its public advertising campaigns related to preschool," and the ads were consistent with the commission's role of advocating for early childhood programs, the report said.
Voters approved the First 5 program in November 1998 when they passed Proposition 10, which levied a 50-cent a pack tax on cigarettes and raised taxes on all other tobacco products to pay for programs for children up to age five.
Reiner led the campaign for Proposition 10, as well as for Proposition 82, an unsuccessful measure that would have taxed high income-earners to pay for universal preschool for 4-year-olds. It was rejected by voters in June.
Reiner was forced to step down as head of First 5 in March amid criticism of the preschool commercials, which ran while he was collecting signatures to qualify the initiative. The commission stopped airing the ads once Proposition 82 made the ballot.
State Sen. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks, and Assemblyman Dario Frommer, D-Los Angeles, requested the audit.
Cox said the audit proves the Legislature may need to enact legislation providing more oversight on the commission.
"Taxpayers rightfully should be outraged at a state commission that has no oversight, no accountability, and no remorse. The First Five Commission has run amok, and it needs to be cleaned up," he said in a statement.
In its response to the audit, First 5 executive director Kris Perry said the agency often relied on other state agencies such as the attorney general's office and the Department of Finance for guidance on its contracts.
Current commission chairman Hector Ramirez said the report was overly harsh.
"We are frankly surprised by such findings because the (auditor) is now questioning many of the same contracts it reviewed in 2004, when it found no serious problems with First 5's contracting," Ramirez said.
A spokesman for Reiner, Mark Fabiani, said the audit confirmed what Reiner had said all along: "The First 5 commission's advertising to promote increased use of preschool was completely appropriate and legal and there was never any confusion between the commission's public work and political advocacy."
The audit reviewed the commission's contracts for public media campaigns from its inception in 1999 through the fiscal year that ended on June 30.
"We found a number of problems with the way it awards and manages these contracts," the audit concluded. Among them:
- The commission did not perform a cost analysis or seek other applicants when it received fewer than the state minimum number of bids, three, for three contracts totaling more than $47.7 million;
- It failed to justify why it awarded one $3 million contract and six amendments totaling $27.6 million without seeking competitive bids;
- Vital information was left out of the contracts, such as "a clear description of work to be performed and detailed cost proposals."
The commission said it has already made some changes, including increased staff training, to avoid such problems in the future.
Legislators boosted oversight of the First 5 program in 2004 after a previous audit found that several counties lacked documents to show how and why they spent First 5 funds. The Associated Press reported that money was spent on items such as playgrounds and storage buildings that might not meet the law's "early childhood development" requirement and that more than 12 percent of the money collected was not spent.
I couldn't get through the first two paragraphs.
It's OK, really.
After all, it's for the children.
The audit report:
http://www.bsa.ca.gov/reports/summary.php?id=516
Why would we expect anything good from this crap considering that it was a fraud from the beginning to hand tens of millions in slush fund money to Reiner and his socialist buddies? The 'law' was written so vaguely that it was impossible to tell what people were actually voting for and the end result was never certain beyond the part about the tax increase.
This proves liberals need LOTS of oversight when handling public funds. I wonder how much of his own money he used for this particular crusade.
Is this Mark Fabiani the one time San Diego Charger's special counsel? Al Gore's former deputy campaign manager?
Is this Mark Fabiani the one time San Diego Charger's special counsel? Al Gore's former deputy campaign manager?
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Yes.
If Proposition 86 passes, Reiner's Prop. 10 programs will get its share of the loot.
Cigarettes in California are subject to the California Cigarette Tax and the Tobacco Products Surtax as mandated by Proposition 10 (1998). Currently, that amounts to a tax of 87 cents per pack.
Revenues from the tax increase would go into a new fund called the Tobacco Tax of 2006 Trust Fund. An as-yet-undetermined amount of the additional tax revenues would be used to fund Proposition 10 programs which would likely lose money with the passage of Proposition 86.
As Proposition 86 adds a large amount to cigarettes and tobacco products, a reduction in sales is expected. The amount needed to backfill the Proposition 10 programs would be determined by the State Board of Equalization.
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