The State Worker: The parks investigation: Resources official said he 'assumed' leave buyouts followed protocol

The State Worker

Chronicling civil-service life for California state workers

August 27, 2012

The parks investigation: Resources official said he 'assumed' leave buyouts followed protocol

The California Natural Resources Agency recently released more than 1,000 pages of interviews, adverse action notices and reports that detail a covert employee leave buyback program at the Department of Parks and Recreation during the summer of 2011.

Natural resources issued the documents online in response to media requests after The Bee broke the story of the leave cash-out program, which spurred a subsequent revelation that parks squirreled away millions of dollars while also threatening to close facilities due to extreme budget pressure.

This post is the next in a series intended to make all of those documents readily accessible to the public.

Person interviewed: Patrick Kemp
Job: Assistant secretary for administration finance, Natural Resources Agency
Interviewed by: Corrine Murphy, Justice Department deputy attorney general, and Angela Nowicki, Superintendent II, State Parks Law Enforcement Emergency Services
Date of interview: Mar. 29, 2012
Notable quote: "I just assumed he, you know, if he was going to do it just went out and did -- did the proper process." - Kemp's recollection of his thoughts after telling parks Deputy Secretary Manuel Lopez in the summer of 2011 that a leave buyback program would need approval from the state's finance and personnel departments. (Transcript page 11.)
Kemp Interview 2012-3-29

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