On The Money: Crossing Controversy
California is deep in debt – but you're paying thousands of dollars for a crossing guard – to help DMV workers walk across the street. CBS 13 has learned the crossing guard is stationed on top of an underground tunnel that DMV employees can also use to get to work.
CBS 13 has obtained exclusive video of the private tunnel underneath 24th Street, near Broadway in Sacramento – a little known tunnel that state workers have been using for half a century to cross underground without a guard.
"We have a tunnel right underneath, where the crossing guard is," said Mariam Noujaim, a DMV worker who says she's speaking only for herself in pointing out what she believes is government waste. Noujaim told CBS 13, "We have a tunnel, a private tunnel. You can work, you can play in it with your eyes closed. It's very safe."
Noujaim is part of a group called Help Save Our State, a partnership of state workers and private citizens who believe government employee unions can play a major role in the reform of government and elimination of waste.
Dan Cronk is a member of the group. He told CBS 13, "Our state's in trouble. You know we're wasting a lot of money. And it's not about the crossing guard and it's not about the tunnel. It's about a mentality that thinks - it's okay to have both."
In response, DMV says the underground crossing is really just a utility tunnel filled with pipes – and used primarily for moving equipment – not people. The Department of Motor Vehicles maintains the crossing guard is necessary because of previous accidents at the heavily travelled 24th and Broadway corridor.
"It's not easily accessible to all of the employees that work in the six different buildings on this campus," said Jan Mendoza, a DMV public information officer. Mendoza told CBS 13. Mendoza noted 3,000 DMV employees work in those six building.
"We do have to close this tunnel throughout the day, many times a day because they're bringing equipment through," Mendoza explained. "We let employees use it, but it's not considered a pedestrian thoroughfare," Mendoza told CBS 13.
But CBS 13 captured video of dozens of DMV employees using the underground tunnel – and dozens more crossing above ground with the help of a guard. The position – which is staffed with by multiple guards on rotation from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. pays $20 an hour – and costs an estimated $62,000 a year for a crossing guard DMV sees as a necessity.
But ironically, just two blocks from the giant state agency, Michelle Miller, who is legally blind, crosses 24th Street every day without a guard. Her only helper is her guide dog Tango – who escorts her to work at the Society for the Blind.
"I have never used a crossing guard," Miller explained. "I think the last time was in kindergarten."
DMV says the crossing guards also provide security for the buildings – and they would be performing that function if not helping state workers cross the street.
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