California officials stashed $54M while asking for donations to keep parks open
California’s prized park system -- from the Sierra Nevada to the golden southern beaches – is facing big problems as a high-priority audit gets underway to learn how officials stashed a $54 million secret surplus while soliciting money from local governments and others to stay afloat, said GOP Assemblywoman Beth Gaines.
The park system’s director, Ruth Coleman, resigned Friday after officials discovered the money, which had not been reported to the state’s finance department. The system’s second-in-command, acting Chief Deputy Director Michael Harris, was fired in the wake of the scandal.
The state’s Department of Parks and Recreation has been facing hard questions about its handling of taxpayer money since at least May 2011, when officials announced a plan to close 70 of their 278 parks due to budget cuts. However, they narrowly avoided that scenario through foundation money, help from municipalities and corporate-management agreements.
Gaines said Monday the $54 million has been in state coffers for as long as 12 years, and she thinks government financiers intentionally hid the money.
Fox NewsBut it's only corporations that are corrupt. Government agencies benefit all the people. #LiberalTalkingPoints
