Corruption

About the only people who say that politics is not corrupt are the politicians.

Bellflower had its share of corruption. Like nearly all California cities with privately run trash collection, Bellflower did not allow the trash contract to be competitively bid. The result is that the citizens have to pay double the market rate to have their trash picked up. Although Art could not change the existing ten-year contract, he put an end to one of the ways the trash contractor was ripping off consumers. After measuring the contractor's trash bins, Art discovered that their four-yard bin was closer to being three yards than their three-yard bin was. An expose' on Art's cable television show forced the contractor to replace all of their bins. Bellflower consumers had their trash capacity increased between 11% to 25% without any additional costs. California law should not allow cities to award no-bid contracts. One of the corrupt practices that must end is what is referred to as "Chief's Disease". Of 65 high-ranking CHP officers who have retired since 2000, 55 pursued workers' compensation settlements within two years of retiring. They can receive a six figure state industrial disability pension - half tax-free.

Corruption is one of the reasons Californians are forced to pay high electricity bills. Members of former Governor Davis' staff invested in certain energy companies before it became public that these companies received long-term contracts that are well above the market rate. Their incentive in negotiating these contracts was not to get the best deal for California consumers, rather it was to maximize the profits of the companies that they had invested in.

"If you're a policy adviser to the governor, the policy should be based on the interests of California and actual policy merit. How do we know they're not suggesting policies beneficial to prospective donors and not necessarily in the interests of the state?"
-- Theis Finlev, policy advocate for California Common Cause on Schwarzenegger supplementing the salaries of at least four of his top government aides with private campaign money.