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CA: Waste board, and not in name only
Sac Bee ^ | 12/3/08 | Editorial

Posted on 12/03/2008 9:49:01 AM PST by NormsRevenge

For termed-out and defeated legislators or former high-ranking gubernatorial staffers in search of a soft landing, there is none softer than the California Integrated Waste Management Board. Appointees to the six-member board take home $132,000 a year, plus expenses and a car allowance. That's not bad for what amounts to four all-day meetings a month. Some them work hard between meetings; others don't.

The waste board reeks of the government's stale status quo, a potent symbol of lawmakers who are out of touch. Even as California slips further into fiscal chaos, legislators and friends of the governor continue to enjoy the benefits of this patronage plum.

This year, two termed-out lawmakers, Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, and Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, were the recipients of coveted appointments to the waste board. Laird was appointed by the Assembly speaker and Kuehl by the Senate Rules Committee.

There are reports, too, that the governor is about to appoint Carole Migden, the infamously ill-mannered former senator from San Francisco, to the board as well. That would be a shame. At least Laird is well respected, with an excellent environmental record. Kuehl is highly regarded as well. Migden was trounced in her bid for re-election after a string of embarrassing misdeeds including a temper tantrum so abusive that her staff had to be sent home one day for its own protection.

When he first came into office, Gov. Schwarzenegger talked about eliminating boards and commissions that had outlived their usefulness. The waste board was on the list of those to be consolidated out of existence, and for good reason.

(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: calappointment; california; kuehl; laird; migden; schwarzenegger; wasteboard

1 posted on 12/03/2008 9:49:01 AM PST by NormsRevenge
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A Waste Board..

Recycling politicos and favors to same.


2 posted on 12/03/2008 9:50:52 AM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed)
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To: NormsRevenge

remember when Ahnold promised to “blow up the boxes” and eliminate this crap? Instead, he ratcheted up spending at levels that’d make Gray Davis blush, and now demands that we pay more taxes to keep the spending orgy going.


3 posted on 12/03/2008 9:55:30 AM PST by Chet 99
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To: NormsRevenge

They never mention the retirement benefits that go with these jobs..there is the ongoing huge ripoff..


4 posted on 12/03/2008 9:55:52 AM PST by Oldexpat (Drill Here, Drill There..we must drill everywhere.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Hey, they’re very powerful... they decide HOW to go about wasting things.


5 posted on 12/03/2008 9:57:50 AM PST by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Gee, sounds just like the “Levee Boards” in Louisiana!


6 posted on 12/03/2008 9:58:58 AM PST by Redbob (W.W.J.B.D.: "What Would Jack Bauer Do?)
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