Statement by Rico Oller on
Department of Parks and Recreations $54 million Surplus
SAN
ANDREAS – Today, Rico Oller, candidate for California’s 5th Assembly
District, released the following statement after it was found that the Department
of Parks and Recreation sat on a $54 million surplus while threatening closure
of parks throughout the state:
I have been in business for 30 years.
In that time I have never "found" $54 million lying around in one of
our bank accounts. The recent discovery that the California Department of Parks
and Recreation had been giving inaccurate reports of their expenditures shows a
serious failure of the state's spending and reporting policies. The revelation
that the department has $54 million in surplus funds that were not reported to
the Department of Finance constitutes a serious breach of the public trust.
More egregious still is that the
Department recently placed 70 state parks on the closure list because the state
supposedly could no longer afford to keep them open. In the absence of any cuts
or cost saving measures, the $54 million surplus would have been enough to fund
these parks for two years. In developing the closure plan, apparently no one at
the department bothered to check the books.
There were funds available. The State Controller's office knew of the
money. This suggests that the proposed closures may have been part of a
political agenda.
The governor seems to think that
state parks and public safety are fit to be used as bargaining chips to
convince voters to raise taxes. I hope it doesn't work. We need to audit all
departments, agencies, commissions, and boards. One is left to ponder what
other cash cows are hiding in Sacramento. Smells funny to me.
