Rob Reiner – Why We Shouldn’t Have Commissions Created Through The Ballot Box
In March, Rob Reiner – the unelected czar of California’s First 5 Commission – resigned. In his wake he left a list of reasons why unelected and unaccountable commissions established through the initiative process are a bad idea.
We must remember that Reiner is a big time progressive who actually thought that he would run for Governor of this great state. We must also remember that Reiner is a Hollywood elite.
This is not a pretty picture:
Our review of the California Children and Families Commission’s spending practices and contracting procedures revealed that it:
• Allowed one of its media contractors to circumvent the payment provisions of a contract by paying invoices totaling $673,000 for fees and expenses of some of the contractor’s employees that were prohibited under the terms of the contract.
• Did not fully use the tools available to it to ensure its contractors provided appropriate services.
• Could not always demonstrate it had reviewed and approved final written subcontracts and subcontractors’ conflict-of-interest certificates.
• Did not always follow state policy when it used a competitive process to award three of the contracts valued at more than $47.7 million and failed to provide sufficient justification for awarding one $3 million contract and six amendments totaling $27.6 million using the noncompetitive process.
• Did not always ensure that its interagency agreements met the state requirement for using subcontractors.
• Agreed to pay $1.2 million more than it should have for administrative overhead because it did not follow state policy that limits such payments.
• Intentionally used some memorandums of understanding with counties to avoid having to comply with state contracting requirements.
• Had clear authority to conduct its advertising campaigns relating to preschool, these advertisements and their timing were consistent with legal restrictions on the use of public funds and did not contribute any of its public funds to campaign accounts used to support the various ballot measures.
• Its payments to three individuals who worked for the media contractor were generally consistent with the restrictions related to the use of public funds for political purposes. However, for a period of almost four months in 2004, the state commission could not demonstrate that these payments were appropriate.
Here is the complete report.
Overhead costs are costs that drain funds for actually providing services. Direct costs are those costs that can be directly traced to the providing of services. The report claims that Reiner permitted $1.2 million extra to be spent on overhead costs:
Further, the state commission did not always ensure that its interagency agreements met the requirements for using subcontractors, and the agreements regularly included budgets that allowed the payment of administrative overhead fees at amounts higher than state policy allows. Its failure to follow state policy in these instances resulted in the state commission agreeing to pay $1.2 million more for these agreements than it should have. In addition, the state commission intentionally used some memorandums of understanding with counties to avoid having to comply with state contracting requirements.
Here are a few titles from the report for you to ponder
The State Commission Did Not Always Require Contractors to Submit Complete Invoice Documentation
The State Commission Inappropriately Advanced Funds to Three Contractors
The State Commission Could Not Demonstrate That It Appropriately Advertised for a Large Contract
The State Commission Did Not Always Have a Good Rationale for Using the Noncompetitive Process for One Contract and Six Amendments
The State Commission Agreed to Reimburse Contractors for Indirect Costs at Higher Rates Than State Policy Allows
The Children of California have been ripped off by adults who have proven that did not take their jobs and fiduciary responsibility seriously. Reiner may be gone but the California’s First 5 Commission’s reputation has been severely tainted.
Keep this in mind when you vote on November 7. Great ideas and feel good policies don’t always make for good results. In this case the children lost and the voters have been embarrassed.
