$175 to empty an ashtray. $2,166 to fix five smoke detectors. $8,000 to scrape gum off four feet of sidewalk. Those are some of the maintenance charges from companies on contract with California’s court system — and all were approved by the Administrative Office of the Courts, which oversees court budgets.
Legislators exposed the inflated costs at a hearing about government accountability in Sacramento on August 11.
LA court reporter Rose Nava was there, and she said the committee took its watchdog role seriously.
“The maintenance companies have taken advantage of the rubber-stamping of the AOC,” she said. “Nobody has been watching them.”
“Hopefully now that they are being watched, we will either switch to new maintenance companies or they will stop super-inflating their costs.”
Whistleblower Protections Signed Into Law
The alleged misspending came to light after an AOC employee spoke out. He was later fired. Now Gov. Schwarzenegger has signed a bill to protect court employees who step forward with allegations of waste or abuse. Click here to read more about whistleblower issue.
Bipartisan Support for Accountability
Court employees’ campaign for accountability and openness has won bipartisan support.
At the August 11 hearing, Republican Assemblywoman Audra Strickland of Santa Barbara said courts need to “buy into cost reductions,” and many judges have criticized the hugely expensive California Case Management System, an IT project now estimated to cost $1.3 billion.
Democratic Assemblyman Hector De La Torre of Los Angeles pressed court administrators on the total cost of the IT project and asked for more specific billing information to help track outrageous expenses.
While judges and court employess agree that courts need to upgrade their system, they asked whether this is the right expense at the right time.
Noting that court contractors receive performance bonuses, Sacramento Court’s Presiding Judge Stephen White said the court needs to rebid some of its current contracts.