Contributor

Ray Haynes

Mr. Haynes is an Assembly member representing Riverside and Temecula. He serves on the Appropriations and Budget Committees. [go to Assembly Member Haynes website at California Assembly][go to Haynes index]

For A Good Time Call: C-A-L-I-F-O-R-N-I-A
The state owns lots of interesting and wasteful property...
[Ray Haynes] 3/16/04

Sometimes, a story is just too good to pass up.

Dateline—San Rafael—a local massage parlor, busted several times for prostitution, is located in a building owned by the state of California.

That is right. The state leases land to a massage parlor, and from what I hear about its Internet web site and police record, it appears to offer a few other services as well—all courtesy of the California taxpayer. I’m sure this discovery will spawn multiple investigations by dedicated teams of undercover staff members to determine exactly what it is that is going on in this particular state building.

Kudos to Senator Jim Battin and Senator Jeff Denham, who did an extensive amount of research to find out what land and assets the state owns, and discovered some really interesting items. Their work was especially important because it appears that the state keeps no such list itself.

Like the house in Hawaii owned by the University of California, or the house in Sausalito also owned by the University. Senators Battin and Denham didn’t go to Hawaii to check out the house there, but did go to Sausalito, and found that the house sat on 1.75 acres, had a beautiful bay view, a wonderful and well-kept and manicured lawn and garden, and absolutely no one living there. There is no apparent use for the house, but it is obviously costing the state a substantial amount of money to keep it up, with no rent to counterbalance that cost. More important, however, is that houses in the same neighborhood are selling for millions of dollars, and the state refuses to sell this house. Add to that the property it owns in Tahiti, and the house that it owns on the riverfront in the Sacramento area, and you get the idea that the University Of California is using the tuition it collects to collect a stable of nicely appointed vacation homes.

CalTrans owns a golf course in Oakland, and rents it out for less than three dollars a day-- less than a bucket of balls would cost you at its two story driving range. It also has a golf shop, a bar and a restaurant, and with all of that, the state values the land at $25,000. Houses in this part of Oakland sell regularly in the seven figures, and golf courses sell for oogles of money everywhere, except, I guess, when the state puts it on the market.

Go to 1350 Front Street, next time you are in San Diego, and see the vacant building there. You can see first hand how well the state is taking care of your tax dollars. Prime property, with an amazing ocean view, valued at $2.5 million in 1988, sits empty for some “future project.” The Department of General Services (DGS) says the land is surplus, and it sits—empty.

The state owns land on which a truck dealership (which, by the way, sells Hummers and other trucks who some would like to see banned from the state) is located. It owns the Cow Palace in San Francisco and the Los Angeles Coliseum. It owns hundreds of vacant apartments, numerous apartment complexes, and lots and lots of empty lots.

Selling these properties and putting the proceeds towards closing our state’s budget whole would be a win-win proposition. Most obviously, we need the money more than we need the property.

But there is also a principle at stake. The government really shouldn’t be running or managing these private sector properties and businesses. First of all, based on the rates being charged and the values placed on the properties, the state clearly doesn’t know what it is doing and is losing money we can’t afford to lose. Second, as a general rule, the state shouldn’t be performing any service you can find in the phone book. And finally, running these operations clearly sets a bad precedent for the government—at least when you pay the ladies in the massage parlor, you actually get something in return...CRO

§