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| March 10, 2014 | |
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AOC CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER SUBMITS TRAVEL EXPENSE CLAIMS FOR JOB IN SAN FRANCISCO Maria Dinzeo of Courthouse News Service has written an article that appeared last Friday revealing that the AOC Chief Operating Officer, Curtis Child, does not regularly supervise employees of the AOC in San Francisco and has billed taxpayers for travel from his home in Sacramento. You can read it here. The Chief Operating Officer is one of the top four officials in the AOC chain of command. According to the official class description (available here), the COO “directs the day-to-day operations of the Administrative Office of the Courts.” The COO is in charge of the Judicial and Court Operations Services Division, which includes the Center for Families, Children & the Courts; the Court Operations Special Services Office; the Criminal Justice Court Services Office; the Judicial Branch Capital Program Office; and the Office of Appellate Court Services. Two hundred twenty-three AOC employees work for the COO. Mr. Child previously worked as the director of the Office of Governmental Affairs—the AOC’s chief lobbyist. He lobbied against a legislative audit of the CCMS project (see the Recorder article referenced here). He lobbied against AB 1208. (See the Met News article here.) Since his promotion to COO, he earns a salary of $192,590 (see p. 10 of the Judicial Branch pay scale, available here), none of which he has to pay toward his pension (see the list obtained by Alliance director Daniel Goldstein back in 2011 here). The AOC is based in San Francisco, where the vast majority of the employees—185 out of 223—are under Mr. Child’s supervision. Mr. Child lives in Sacramento. Mr. Child’s travel expense claims going back to last February reveal that although he’s in charge of the day-to-day operations of a San Francisco-based bureaucracy the public is paying extra for his meals and hotel bills whenever he stays in San Francisco. In June 2013, for example, he put in claims for lodging, tolls, and parking to attend staff meetings in San Francisco. In May 2013, he sought reimbursement for four nights at a hotel in the City—at rates between $140 and $190 a night—so that he could attend staff meetings, subcommittee meetings, and a dinner honoring the Supreme Court. In April, he spent a night in the City in order to meet with the Judicial Council and with staff. The most curious expense claim came in November 2013, when he put in for $183 for a hotel and meals so he could go to meetings and attend former Chief Justice George’s book signing. Every month, Mr. Child spends anywhere between one and five nights at hotels in San Francisco. On each of his travel expense claims, he lists his “headquarters address” as the AOC office in Sacramento. These expense claims raise a bigger question: How can the person responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of a giant San Francisco-based bureaucracy possibly do a good job if he’s based in Sacramento and if he visits just a few times a month? Curt Child epitomizes the problem with the AOC. He is closely associated with CCMS, the greatest blunder in the history of California judicial administration—and he somehow got a promotion. He’s getting perks and benefits while clerks, reporters, and interpreters suffer. Can he possibly be an effective manager if he’s in a completely different city from his workforce? The position of COO was created in response to the devastating critique of the AOC contained in the 2012 SEC report. It was supposed to be part of the reform of the AOC. From the looks of it, meaningful reform of the AOC will take a lot more than just reshuffling the players and relabeling the organizational chart. There is a postscript to this story. Alliance director Maryanne Gilliard has been trying to get Mr. Child’s travel claims from the AOC. At first, they sent what they told her were three months’ worth of claims. Then she was told that Mr. Child got reimbursed for three more claims, and that the new information would be forthcoming. Now she’s being told that she’s only getting information about paid claims because there’s no public interest in claims that were submitted but not yet paid. We include the entire e-mail string below. Managers who manage from 90 miles away. Travel expense claims for book signings. Incomplete responses to information requests. Stonewalling. Join us in urging the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to audit the AOC and the Judicial Council. You may also add your name to the more than 500 judges of the Alliance by visiting our website. Directors, Alliance of California Judges
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On Mar 5, 2014, at 6:25 PM, "Hershkowitz, Donna"
We are working on your request. We will respond soon with an estimate of the time it will take to produce these re-cords. One clarification on your question regarding Mr. Child's supervisory duties - are you requesting information on the entire staff in his division, or only on those characterized as his "direct reports." DSH Donna S. Hershkowitz, Director Office of Appellate Court Services and Court Operations Special Services Office Judicial Council of California - Administrative Office of the Courts 2255 N. Ontario Street, Suite 220 Burbank, CA 91504 455 Golden Gate Avenue San Francisco, CA 94102-3688 Phone 818-558-3068 Fax 415-865-4329 donna.hershkowitz@jud.ca.gov "Serving the courts for the benefit of all Californians" -----Original Message----- From: Maryanne Gilliard [mailto: ________.com] Sent: Monday, February 17, 2014 8:04 PM To: Hershkowitz, Donna Subject: Travel expense claims Dear Ms. Hershkowitz, I hope that you are enjoying your new job which takes you to San Francisco. In that vein, I am requesting the travel expense claims generated by Mr. Curtis Child for the past three months. As these are documents maintained in the regu-lar course of business, I assume you should be able to provide these to me in short order. It is my understanding that Mr. Child is responsible for supervising a certain number of staff in San Francisco. In that regard, I would also appreciate a copy of any organizational chart or any other document that reflects Mr. Child's current supervisory duties, including the actual number of persons in San Francisco he directly supervises.
I thank you in advance for your cooperation in this matter. |
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Alliance of California Judges |