Fallout from State Parks' Hidden Funds
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Remember the warning that 70 state parks would have to close because of a lack of money? Turns out the Parks Department had twice as much as it needed salted away, so-called "hidden assets" that top officials say they didn't know about. What about all those nonprofits that worked to keep the parks open, including bake sales at elementary schools? Was it fraud or mismanagement? Is it the tip of an iceberg? Will it cast doubt on Governor Brown's temporary tax increase on the November ballot? Also, Anaheim residents are up in arms over recent police shootings. On our rebroadcast of today's To the Point, can we talk about gun control?
Banner image: Torrey Pines State Reserve (Minerva Bloom) / CC BY-NC 3.0
Making News
Anaheim Residents Up in Arms ()
Last Saturday, Anaheim police officers killed a man they said was running away in a residential alleyway. At a protest the following day, the police fired beanbags with pepper spray at a crowd including women and children. The day after that, another man was shot to death, allegedly after he fired on police from a stolen car. Now city officials are reaching out to Latino protest leaders in an effort to calm things down. Eric Carpenter reports for the Orange County Register.
Guests:
- Eric Carpenter: Orange County Register
Main Topic
State Parks, 'Hidden Assets' and Public Trust in Government ()
The State Attorney General and the Department of Finance are investigating the discovery of $54 million in so-called "hidden assets" in the State Parks Department. That's more than twice the deficit that led Governor Brown to announce the closing of 70 parks, parks then saved by non-profits and community groups, which raised their own money. A Public Records Act request by the Sacramento Bee turned up unreported funds collected by two of the Parks Department's special funds. Matt Weiser is one of those reporting the story.
Guests:
- Matt Weiser: Sacramento Bee, @matt_weiser
- Elizabeth Goldstein: California State Parks Foundation, @calparks
- H.D. Palmer: California State Department of Finance, @cccbudgetnews
- Joel Fox: Californians for Reforms and Jobs, Not Taxes
Links:
Main Topic
Aurora, Mass Shootings and America's Gun Laws ()
In 1929, American newspapers carried sensational pictures of crumpled, dead bodies, victims of Al Capone's St. Valentine's Day Massacre. President Franklin Roosevelt then persuaded Congress to restrict access to machine guns favored by gangsters. Since then, there have been many more multiple shootings, but the result has more often been sympathy, rather than action. In the aftermath of the massacre in Aurora, Colorado, New York Mayor Bloomberg wants President Obama and candidate Mitt Romney to talk about gun violence. Could that possibly be a winning issue for either side? What's the history of gun control? Are multiple killings America's "new normal?"
Guests:
- Adam Winkler: University of California, Los Angeles, @adamwinkler
- Dan Gross: Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, @bradybuzz
- Hubert Williams: National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence
- Richard Feldman: Independent Firearm Owners Association
- David Sirota: Salon.com, @davidsirota
Links:
Underwriters
Which Way L.A.? is made possible in part by the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, which supports study and research into policy issues of the Los Angeles region.
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