| ► CA legislators refuse to allow public review of their travel records |
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CA legislators refuse to allow public review of their travel records  
Since we all know that California’s so-called public servant legislator’s have been hosing the public via purchasing luxury vehicles of their choosing at public expense for nearly forty (4) years, the question that has yet to be fully addressed is if any of them have ever paid State and Federal Income taxes for personal use of the public’s vehicles and fuel.
Beginning in 2008, I began to request public records from the State Assembly and Senate regarding luxury vehicles being provided to them at public expense. After review of hundreds of pages of records, it became obvious to me that these folks were not reporting income they derived from personal use of these state cars. It was obvious that many of them were using the cars for commuting purposes, which is defined as personal use and taxable income according to the IRS.
To further my investigation, I then requested copies of all fuel receipts and daily logs differentiating official verses personal use of the cars. The IRS requires employees, public and otherwise to retain said logs.
I also asked for long distance phone records to see if any of them were making call on the public’s dime that wasn’t related to state business.
I also requested copies of all travel expense records such as hotels, meals and airfare receipts. I then received responses from both the Senate and Assembly refusing to provide any of the requested records. In a lame attempt at levity, Gregory Schmidt, Secretary of the Senate denied my request for travel records in his March 24, 2009 letter. In his denial lettter and in a lame attempt at levity, Mr. Schmidt said: (See ST2 at paragraph 1 of page 3)
“We believe that the disclosure of their air schedules and related travel information poses a serious risk to the security of individual Senators and therefore, the public interest served by its disclosure is clearly outweighed by the public interest served in not making the disclosure public.”
On March 9, 2009 I received a verbatim denial of my request for travel records from John Waldie, Chief Administrative Officer for the State Assembly that included the same "serious risk" hyperbole (aka, BS).
Now remember folks, I asked for receipts for past travel as you can see at paragraph 1 of page 1 of Mr. Schmidt's letter. That‘s past like in last year or last month. Obviously, Mr. Schmidt and his boss Senator Darrell Steinberg along with Mr. Waldie missed their callings as standup comedians. These absurd denials don’t pass the involuntary laugh test!
What is even more laughable about these asinine denials for feigned “security” reasons is the undeniable fact that most if not all State Senators and Assembly members advertise their future travel agendas on their respective web sites. In this case I was merely asking for receipts for where they had been not where they planned on going!
Clearly, this specious “security” claim is based on their collective fear that the public may well be outraged to discover how they spend their money traveling to exotic venues on their dime.
I can assure you that these folks ain’t staying at the Big 6 Motel. No, no, for most of these arrogant elitists, they prefer to lodge at the Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton. After all, since y’all are paying why should they care, right?
As a result of the absurd and clearly unlawful stance in denying my public records request I filed a public records lawsuit against the Assembly and Senate in early 2009. A copy of that lawsuit can be found at the URL below.
Recently the Sacramento Bee and LA Times have also been basically told to take a hike by our overworked, underpaid, underappreciated and prestigious state legislators regarding their public records requests. This has led the Bee and Times to file a lawsuit against our dedicated “hide-the-ball” public servants.
Time will tell if the Bee and Times can find a judge a Superior Court judge in California that will rule in their favor.
Public Records lawsuit v California Legislature
http://tinyurl.com/3mjw7mq
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