Caltrans Supervisor Resigns Following CBS2 Investigation
STUDIO CITY (CBSLA.com) — A Caltrans supervisor has resigned following a CBS2 investigation that caught some employees using Caltrans trucks rented with taxpayer money for their own personal use.
Documents obtained by CBS2's David Goldstein showed Caltrans has been spending $750,000 of taxpayer dollars to rent the high-end vehicles after being ordered by Gov. Jerry Brown to reduce its fleet.
The trucks were only to be used for state business, but some workers were caught breaking the rules.
Sumner Baker of Colton stepped down as supervisor after being videotaped buying alcohol while driving around in his work truck.
Caltrans released the following statement in response to the Goldstein investigation:
"The video appears to show blatant abuses of state resources by certain Caltrans employees. Caltrans has already started a full investigation into the conduct shown in the video. The employee shown buying liquor has resigned. Any other employees who are found to have violated laws or department policies will be disciplined. In addition to the investigation, Caltrans is auditing how vehicles are dispatched to and leased by employees to ensure we are protecting taxpayer dollars. While the vast majority of Caltrans employees are hardworking and ethical, there are, unfortunately, a few exceptions."
Gov. Brown also responded to CBS2's Thursday report, in which he was heard referring to Goldstein as acting "like a thug."
"I think jumping in your face at the funeral of Mervyn Dymally and only wanting to know about something that's in his phone…that he forces me to look at while he puts a camera in my face and a microphone….I don't think that is the civility and the gentility that I expect from the old CBS network," Brown said.
Goldstein said CBS2 never spoke with the governor at the funeral. The interview with Brown took place two days later in Burbank.
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