Los Angeles County leaders still drive pricey gas-guzzling cars years after audit - LA Daily News
Walk the garage under Los Angeles County’s headquarters and you’ll see rows of practical Ford Tauruses and efficient Toyota Priuses — the ones with government seals on the front doors. The civil grand jury in 2008 criticized the Los Angeles county government for buying top officials “luxury” vehicles with poor gas mileage. The Board of Supervisors never set limits on indulgence, like the grand jury recommended. Nor did it track — besides for one year after the audit — how many expensive cars its workers drive. Now, new records show the county has 71 percent more pricey vehicles than it did seven years ago. Supervisors themselves bought take-home autos with features like plush leather and lousy fuel-efficiency. “Most local governments are going stripped down. The number of county vehicles costing more than $30,000 — a threshold set by the grand jury — rose from 452 in 2008 to 773 in 2014. At the request of this news organization, officials reproduced the list for the most recent year available. While none of the elected supervisors agreed to be interviewed, Patrick Ogawa, the supervisors’ top administrator, blamed the increase on more expensive technology and “energy-efficient features” that now come standard. “The county exercises strong control over the use of public vehicles by its. Source: www.dailynews.com
