CA: Trade secrets - Overseas (STATE) offices that cost millions to run, .....

The Orange County Register ^ | Sunday, May 25, 2003 | KIMBERLY KINDY

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Overseas offices that cost millions to run, fail to generate commerce and often mislead lawmakers and the public about their performance are the state's ...

SURPRISED: Mia Rose Palencar, who owns a cleaning-products business based in Orange, is baffled by the trade agency

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I like a paper that does some digging for some good dirt!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

calgov2002:

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[Tacis]

These offices all act as travel agencies for the governor, his family, and top state political officials. They'll get show tickets, guides, and book hotels. They will often pick up the tabs for visitors as part of the operational expenses of the office. Actually running one of the offices as an expatriate US employee is a wonderful job, lots of benefits and very little work or responsinility.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Sounds like it would be a wonderful job.
However as a taxpayer I object, they need to work a hell of a lot harder!

[thegreatbeast]

Are you kidding me? This ineffectiveness is mirrored in almost every single government office, local, state and federal! That's why people go to work for gov't: no heavy lifting.
These offices are stuffed with payroll patriots who have been especially useful to one elected official or another. The governor might get to appoint the head of the agency but the offices are stuffed by all manner of friends and relatives of the other politicians who have the influence to get people jobs in gov't.

[thegreatbeast]

The pols might agree to clean up these Trade Offices but only while the spotlight is on them. The purpose of these agencies IS to employ as many friends as can be reasonably squeezed out of the unsuspecting taxpayer.

[NonValueAdded]

The Legislature's only tool for getting outside scrutiny comes from the California Bureau of State Audits, which does an average of 30 audits a year of a government with thousands of programs. The trade agency has been audited three times since 1996. But auditors have not attempted to verify claims made by the trade offices. Some state programs have never been audited.

Sounds like if CA wants a real return on their investment, then put the money into the Audit Bureau.

[texas booster]

This ineffectiveness is mirrored in almost every single government office, local, state and federal! That's why people go to work for gov't: no heavy lifting.

With all due respect, the most efficient organization in CA is the Greyout Davis fund-raising effort. Every call, every pledge, every promise is documented in a way that Hussien would be proud of. These anonymous staff members do serious heavy lifting, and then volunteer to take any blame that follows.

Sure, the rest of the state may get short shrift, but he puts the best, most bloodthirsty accolytes on his re-election campaign.

That's why he doesn't have enough good employees to go around, they're all working for him as a personal assistant.

[donmeaker]

There ought to be an institutional death penalty for lying. Not just a felony conviction for the head of the office, but instantaneous end of the bureaucracy that employs him. If any had any responsibility they would commit seppuku.

Of course Joe Davis should also commit seppuku for discovering the day after elections that the budget was not balanced. What a maroon!