State Parks

SACRAMENTO -- State finance officials caught accounting discrepancies at the California parks department as far back as 1999, but the issue was not resolved until it mushroomed into an embarrassing scandal last year, according to a new audit released Thursday.  The audit  also described other loose practices at state parks: Parks and Recreation Department officials haven't tracked costs and spending for individual parks, and base operating estimates...

SACRAMENTO - The accounting scandal at the California parks department will end without a criminal investigation, law enforcement officials said this week. The decision will probably close an embarrassing episode for Gov. Jerry Brown's administration. The scandal, which cost the parks director her job, broke last year when it was revealed that her department had an undisclosed $54-million surplus even as officials were planning to close dozens of parks. A subsequent probe by the attorney general's office determined that $20.4 million of the money had been intentionally concealed by officials concerned that their department's budget would be cut if the state's number crunchers knew about the extra funds.

SACRAMENTO - Anthony Jackson can relate to the many Californians who are furious with the state Parks Department. The retired Marine and his wife were among the outdoor enthusiasts who dug into their pockets this year to save a beloved local park after Gov. Jerry Brown's administration announced there was no money to keep dozens of them open. Then it turned out that parks officials had concealed tens of millions of dollars - enough to keep almost everything operating - from state bookkeepers.

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday tapped a decorated retired Marine Corps officer to run the state Parks and Recreation Department, which was rocked by a financial scandal last summer. Former Maj. Gen. Anthony L. Jackson will replace Ruth Coleman, who resigned in July following revelations that parks officials had stashed more than $54 million away without informing the governor's office, even as dozens of parks were slated for closure because of budget cuts. The governor alluded to the scandal in a statement announcing Jackson's appointment Tuesday.

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Tuesday setting a two-year moratorium on closing state parks in the wake of a scandal in which some parks officials hid surplus funds while facilities were threatened with being shuttered. The legislation by Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield (D-Woodland Hills) was in response to the discovery in July that some parks officials had concealed about $54 million in unspent funds even as the governor was proposing to close 70 parks because of a budget shortfall.

Help restore sand dunes in Morro Bay State Park and rebuild a greenhouse at Hearst Castle on your next trip to the Central Coast with California-based Nature Corps , an organization that pairs vacation volunteers with conservation projects. Those who reserve a spot for a September trip receive a free pass to  the Savor the Central Coast food and wine festival too. Volunteers spend two half-days working on conservation projects at two California State Parks under the direction of  biologists and other professionals during the five-day trip to Morro Bay, San Simeon and San Luis Obispo.

SACRAMENTO - In the continuing fallout from the state parks funding scandal, the California Legislature on Thursday approved a two-year moratorium on park closures and proposed allocating $30 million to keep them operating. Facing a midnight Friday deadline to adjourn their two-year session, lawmakers also acted to improve working conditions for nannies and other domestic workers, give driver's licenses to some illegal immigrants, allow seriously ill inmates out of county jails early and ban sexual-orientation "conversion" therapy aimed at making gay teens straight.

SACRAMENTO - State lawmakers return from their summer recess Monday to a budget scandal and a mountain of legislation requiring action before the gavel drops on their session in four weeks. The bills include prickly proposals on pension reform, student aid and gun control. Gov. Jerry Brown proposed an overhaul of the state's overburdened public pension system months ago, but the Legislature has not acted on it. However, opinion polls suggest many voters want to see that the state's fiscal house is being put in order before they'll approve the billions of dollars in tax hikes that Brown's supporters put on the November ballot.

Turns out Gov. Jerry Brown had jars of loose change hidden all over town while poor-mouthing and asking Californians for a tax increase. Not only pitching a tax hike, but also threatening to close state parks while whacking welfare moms and the frail low-income elderly, plus driving up student tuition. The astute old pol - who sold wisdom and experience as his credentials for a third term as governor - says he didn't know the jars existed. And that's completely believable. But it's also irrelevant.

When cash-pinched state officials announced last year that they couldn't afford to keep 70 California parks open, residents jumped in to help. Neighbors held bake sales, cities dug into their reserves, and nonprofits rallied big donors. With the recent disclosures of a largely unknown $54-million pile sitting in state parks accounts, that can-do spirit has been replaced by a how-could-they indignation. Several local governments are demanding their money back, saying they were duped at a time when they could least afford it. In Ventura County, supervisors Tuesday sent a letter to state officials demanding the immediate return of $50,000 earmarked to repair a crucial sewer line at McGrath State Beach near Oxnard.