A new audit highlights wrongdoing and errors by California state employees and agencies that have cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.
The audit released this week by state Auditor Elaine Howle details 10 cases of what it calls "improper activities." They include moonlighting by an unnamed state employee who received permission to work at home in 2010 by saying he had to care for an ailing parent, according to the Sacramento Bee.
The audit says the employee had actually taken a second paid job without following department rules that require permission from a division chief to work a second position. It estimates the Department of Industrial Relations paid the employee at least $12,200 for time when he was not available for his state duties.
In still another case, an unnamed State Water Resources Control Board employee sent surplus office furniture to a recycler and pocketed $3,500 from the deal. And in a third case, more than $33,000 of government property went missing at Camp Roberts in Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties. The audit blames poor inventory controls.
The cases are based on whistle-blower complaints.
The moonlighting employee at the Department of Industrial Relations resigned after management discovered his second job. The department said in response to the audit it put a memo in the employee's personnel file should he attempt to return to state employment. It also put stronger telecommuting policies in place.
The employee accused of taking proceeds from the surplus furniture said she didn't have time to turn in the money and took it home for safekeeping, according to the audit. It recommends the case be handed over to the local district attorney.
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The Military Department, which was responsible for the missing government property, has made "considerable progress" in fixing its shortcomings, but it still needs a bar-code system for all expendable inventory, according to the audit.
