Chick Begins Stimulus Watchdog Role Monday
Thursday, Jan 7, 2010 | Updated 2:54 PM PST
LA City Controller Laura Chick
The longtime elected budget cop for the City of Los Angeles starts her new job Monday as the new state sheriff in Sacramento.
Laura Chick, the controller for the nation's second-largest city since 2001, has been appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to be his special inspector general. In the appointed, advisory post, she will be the governor's watchdog as the state takes in and spends about $50 billion in expected federal economic stimulus funds.
Chick has rented an apartment in Sacramento and starts her $178,000 per year advisory job for the governor Monday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday.
But Chick may not find a warm welcome at the State Capitol, where an elected controller, lieutenant governor, treasurer and an official state auditor's office all vie for public attention as fiscal watchdogs.
In Los Angeles, Chick has gained headlines by issuing scathing reports on contracting blunders, conflicts of interest, costly hazing horseplay at the Fire Department, and an overbilling scandal at the Department of Water and Power.
