The U.S. government paid for clunkers, but California wants it
the other way around.
To reduce government waste and raise money, the state is selling
thousands of items including old cars
– some have Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signature on the visor
– at what it’s calling the Great California Garage Sale at a
Sacramento warehouse on Friday and Saturday, and on eBay and
Craigslist.
By Brittany Levine, McClatchy Newspapers
SAN FRANCISCO
The U.S. government paid for clunkers, but California wants it the other way around.
To reduce government waste and raise money, the state is selling thousands of items including old cars – some have Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signature on the visor – at what it’s calling the Great California Garage Sale at a Sacramento warehouse on Friday and Saturday, and on eBay and Craigslist.
Last month, Schwarzenegger signed an executive order to reduce the state’s motor fleet by 15 percent following reports of waste and abuse as independent reviewers found state employees often took cars home. The executive order influenced a spring cleaning of sorts across state agencies, which added old laptops, coat racks and box cutters to the garage sale inventory.
The state has sold surplus items in the past, but this is the biggest sale yet. About 6,000 items including a few hundred BlackBerries, eight white and sea-foam green dental chairs and six pianos. The dental chairs cost about $1000 and were once used for prisoner checkups by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The pianos cost $100 and came from Department of Parks and Recreation.
Erin Shaw, a government spokesperson, said the state expects to make about $1.2 million from the sale.
But that would just be a drop in the bucket when it comes to California debt. Last month lawmakers agreed to close the state’s $26 billion budget deficit by slashing spending for schools and public works. The $100 billion budget forced the state to pay some bills with IOUs.
The sale is more about cleaning out the government’s closets and getting rid of waste, than paying back the debt, Shaw said.
Schwarzenegger is no stranger to stunts. He cut up the state’s credit cards to make a statement about government spending. But the idea to autograph the cars came from a Twitter follower from Australia. This is the first time the state has sold the former actor’s autographed items.
“I look forward to selling these signed cars and making some $ for California,” Schwarzenegger tweeted last week along with a picture of him holding a black marker behind a desk covered in autographed car visors.
Fifteen signed cars were posted on eBay. The top bid so far is $8,400 for a white 2003 Honda Civic. At the live auction, about 600 cars will drive by as buyers bid. One signed bicycle will be sold.
The state has sold items on eBay, but this is the first time it has used Craigslist. Online items were to close sale Thursday night.
But Schwarzenegger’s signature might not add much, said Margaret Barrett, director of entertainment memorabilia at Bonhams & Butterfield, an international auction house. Autographed items from dead actors, such as James Dean and Marilyn Monroe, are more valuable than those from living ones, she said.
An autographed photo of the governor would most likely go for $50 at auction, she said. “I think if it was a jacket he wore in `Terminator’ signed with a silver sharpie pen, I think that would be more valuable than an old car.”
California Highway Patrol motorbikes and jewelry will also be sold at the garage sale.
In true California style, a surfboard, which was confiscated by highway patrol agents, is going for $100.
“We think it’s a good idea to take assets that the state is not using and try to sell them to the private sector and use the money to help the budget,” said David Kline, communications director at California Taxpayers Association, an advocacy firm that promotes government efficiency. “Every dollar goes a long way. While the individual sales might be small, it’s a step in the right direction.”
Especially since just a day before the sale, the state promised to pay back all IOUs by Sept. 4 using $1.5 billion in short-interest loans from J.P. Morgan & Co.
In 2004, Schwarzenegger’s first year of office, the state held a similar sale _ minus the autographed cars. It only sold a few hundred office items and made $180,000, but the state only pocketed $30,000 after subtracting event costs.
And as California tries to cut the fat, browsers can too: Aerobic step platforms go for $10.
