SACRAMENTO — Something has been rotten at the state agency behind a splashy $7-million annual marketing blitz on television, billboards and in food magazines to promote California-grown avocados, a new state audit indicates.
Employees and board members at the obscure, Irvine-based California Avocado Commission enjoyed lavish perks and benefited from as much as $2 million in questionable spending in the last three years, the audit concluded.
Among the benefits to staff members cited by the auditors were home remodeling projects, tickets to sporting events, gym memberships and vitamins, regularly delivered restaurant meals, clothing from high-end retailers described as uniforms, generous auto allowances and $850 hotel rooms at four-star resorts.
During the three-year audit period, the commission's 18 employees used commission credit cards to run up more than $1.5 million in charges for "a significant amount of discretionary expenses that appeared questionable at best and even personal at times," the report said.
About $17,000 was spent on gifts, meals and flowers to celebrate employees' birthdays, employment anniversaries and other special occasions, the report said. An additional $39,000 purchased clothes at Nordstrom, Talbots, Ann Taylor and other stores that the commission dubbed "uniforms" after spending $8,700 to embroider the commission's name and logo onto them.
Commission board members, their spouses, guests and employees spent thousands of dollars on "massages, nail service, facials and body treatments" during meetings at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel and at luxury spas in La Jolla and Del Mar in San Diego County.
The items "appeared to be lavish in nature," auditors said, "and may be considered gifts of public funds."
Commission board Chairman Rick Shade, a Carpinteria grower who has been on the board for a decade, defended some of the spending and disputed some of the criticism. "I don't feel it was all that lavish," he said, "but I agree that certain areas had problems."
Major changes are underway at the commission, he said. Most perks have been slashed, and reimbursements from employees are being sought.
"The board has taken control," he said, noting that it was the findings of the board's own internal audit that led to the state review.
In a statement, the commission said it "was deeply disappointed with the administrative weaknesses in some of our policies and procedures" revealed by the audit.
