State Auditor Finds Waste at Highway Patrol. State Auditor Elaine Howle, in a January 21 report, said the California Highway Patrol followed state contracting requirements inconsistently, exhibited weakness in its conflict-of-interest guidelines, and used an executive airplane for purposes other than state business.
From 1997 to 2007, the CHP operated an eight-passenger Beechcraft airplane. The agency used the plane to go to cities in close proximity to Sacramento, at 13 times the cost of driving. In addition, 14 flights in 2006 were not for state business. These flights cost taxpayers more than $24,000.
The auditor also said that in spending $6.6 million to purchase Smith and Wesson handguns, the CHP did not follow recommendations in the State Administrative Manual, "omitting a description of the handgun's unique performance factors and why the CHP required those performance factors." The auditor continued: "The State's procurement policies are designed to foster competition so that the State purchases the goods it needs at the best-offered price, and the State Administrative Manual required that the CHP justify its selection of a specific handgun make and model. Moreover, an analysis conducted in 2005 by the CHP's gun experts did not fully support the rationale that the CHP used for its handgun procurement. Even though the CHP's purchase documents did not fully justify its desired purchase, General Services approved the purchase."
In response, the CHP said it concurred with the recommendations in the report, principally to provide a complete justification for its purchase and a complete analysis of the fairness of the price when there is a non-competitive bid.
Cal-Taxletter January 25, 2008
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