Gaines’ watch taxpayer backs

Ted and Beth Gaines were in El Dorado Hills last week to update the Tea Party Patriots on what they’re doing in Sacramento to protect taxpayers.

Both were elected in 2011, Beth to the reconfigured Assembly District 6, which now contains El Dorado Hills and Cameron Park, plus portions of Placer and Sacramento counties, Ted to California Senate District 1, which encompasses the northwest corner of the state, including all of El Dorado County.

Beth Gaines (R-Rocklin) arrived fresh off two days of hearings on the California Parks Department slush fund scandal.

The department had $20.4 million in the state Parks and Recreation Fund last year while threatening to close 70 parks in response to budget cuts. The money went unnoticed due to misreporting by Parks Department officials in budget documents, according to a state audit. Ironically, the department would have needed legislative approval to spend any of the secret money. The Legislature and governor spent the $20 million on park operations later in 2012.

Parks Director Ruth Coleman resigned when the story broke in July. Her deputy was fired.

Beth sits on the Assembly’s Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee. She told her Tea Party audience Wednesday night that she called for the audit in July, and that the results were far from satisfying.

She was troubled that Parks Department leadership couldn’t produce a record of costs to run each of the 278 state parks. “There’s no tracking of revenue in or expenditures out,” she said.

Last fall ...

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