Inspector General Laura Chick had hoped to be part of the new Administration:
"I'm sad and disappointed."
Her position was created by Governor Schwarzenegger to track the use of federal stimulus dollars. Chick says over the past year-and-a-half her office has released 27 reports making 48 recommendations for change. She says without that oversight, things will get missed:
"There was no one looking down out in the trenches out on the streets, following the money out into the companies and the cities and the nonprofits that were getting it. We were saying things out loud that typically weren't said out loud."
The position was set to expire at the end June; now it'll end
in January. Brown's office says the change will save the state
700-thousand dollars and is part of the Governor-elect's effort to
streamline operations. Six pending audits will be performed
by other departments.