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Letter to Gov. Davis September
21, 2002 Dear Governor Davis: If one were to point at the prime example of incompetence and corruption in Public Service, the prize would go to the so-called Division of Labor Statistics and Research (DLSR) of the State of California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR). DLSR is ostensibly the Labor Statistical Agency of the fifth largest economy in the world. Yet, despite its funding, not only is labor research not being done (two recent “research” papers, the first in 16 years, are of such a low and unacceptable quality that the Director of DIR gave the order not to post them on the Department’s website), but the Division is the prominent example of political patronage and violation of State hiring and promotion rules.The reason for the inability of DLSR to do any research is the monumental incompetence and lack of knowledge of the persons at the helm of that Division. Twenty years of “delegating testing”, compounded with the indifference and lack of qualifications of a great number of political appointees, have resulted in the elevation to the key positions in that Division of the least scrupulous and qualified individuals. In turn, these individuals have maintained their hold on the Division by promoting like-minded, unqualified persons. The result has been an impressive turnover, at a very substantial cost to the State, of well educated and qualified individuals who realize that there is no professional future for them in that Division. DLSR had been without a Chief, as a result of the change in Administration, from December 1999, till November 2000. On November 1, 2000, Mr. David Aroner was hired as a “Special Consultant for Research” for a nine-month term. This hiring was done without a bidding process, thus grossly violating the State hiring and contracting out procedures. What is more, Mr. Aroner lacks any knowledge of research or other qualification for the consulting job he was hired to do. During his nine-month tenure as a consultant Mr. Aroner produced literally nothing, did not come into any contact with most of the about forty employees in the Division, and would only drop by his office for a few hours a week in a shameless effort to justify his receiving a hefty salary. An investigation is warranted in order to punish the persons behind this hiring, for the breach of public trust. The fact that the responsible individuals have themselves been political appointees of questionable qualifications is one more reason why such an investigation should be carried through without any compromise. At the end of his nine-month term as a “consultant”, Mr. Aroner was appointed by you as a Chief of DLSR. It had been rumored during the early months of your term that you were very slow in making appointments, because of your desire to select qualified individuals. Given this, your decision to choose Mr. Aroner has been bewildering to all those who have come to know first hand Mr. Aroner’s qualifications (or lack thereof) and overall performance and behavior. Since his appointment as a Chief, Mr. Aroner has continued to offer, in return for his generous salary, nothing to the State. As if that wasn’t enough, Mr. Aroner also used his position in order to carry out favors with friends at the expense of the taxpayers. For example, he instigated the awarding, without a bid, of a $25,000 contract to Don Villarejo, an acquaintance of his. An investigation is necessary to uncover all those complicit in Mr. Aroner’s scheme to reward his friends at the expense of the taxpayers. It is not known whether you have been misled by erroneous recommendations, or there were any other considerations for your choice of Mr. Aroner as a chief of DLSR. Whatever the answer, the fact is that Mr. Aroner’s employment by the State is equivalent to theft of public funds. Of course, the travesties in DLSR do not stop with Mr. Aroner. The Deputy Chief of that Division, Maria Robbins, an older by-product of corruption and patronage and the person who in effect runs the Division, is at the center of the failure of DLSR to meet its statutory obligations. Lacking the education, knowledge, and ability to run the labor statistical agency of the fifth largest economy in the world, Ms. Robbins has managed, over the years, to gain complete control of the Division by elevating to key positions persons who are not “threatening” to her, i.e., individuals who, like her, lack the wherewithal to work in a statistical agency. DLSR is by now a shell of what the founders of the Division intended it to be. It has become a vehicle of serving the individual interests of the persons who through favoritism, political connections, and other unseemly reasons have managed to capture the important positions in it. Numerous attempts over the years to remedy the situation by appealing to the Director of DIR have failed miserably. Given this, the only course of action left is for you to personally intervene in order to remedy the situation. As a first step, and parallel to any measures you might take, an immediate in-depth Auditing of DLSR is in order. Surely, you must be able to find persons who have the education, experience, and ability to better head the Division of Labor Statistics and Research. It is hoped that you will “clean house” and inject a brand new management team to bring the Division back to the standards it was originally supposed to serve. To allow the continuance of the present situation at DLSR would be an affront to taxpayers and to the dignity and integrity of the State system. Sincerely, Yaya Fanusie, Ph.D. What Now?! cc: John Burton, State Senate President Pro Tem, State Senate Government Oversight Committee State Assembly Committee on Budget, Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, DOJ, Stephen J. Smith, Acting Secretary, Labor Agency Chuck Cake, Acting Director, DIR |