A top Department of General Services manager resigned and a Department of Transportation employee was reassigned Tuesday as the Schwarzenegger administration reacted to an investigation by The Bee that found officials spent $5.5 million on new vehicles this year but left many idle and gathering dust for months.
Kathleen Webb, a Department of General Services deputy director who oversaw the state's vehicle fleet, offered to resign during a probe into the purchase of $1.2 million worth of hybrid Toyota Priuses, said Erin Shaw, a spokeswoman for the State and Consumer Services Agency, which oversees the General Services department.
"Her resignation, effective Oct. 31, was accepted," Shaw said.
Webb, who was appointed by the Schwarzenegger administration on June 12, 2008, earned $106,800 a year.
The Bee reported that the Priuses sat parked on the roof of the state garage for months, even as legislators nearby slashed state spending, cut state worker pay and eliminated key public services after tax revenue plunged and they needed to balance the budget.
In a related move, Mark DeSio, a spokesman for Caltrans, confirmed that an agency employee had been reassigned. It was part of a personnel action launched in connection with a number of truck purchases made earlier this year, including a flurry on June 30 – the last day of the state's fiscal year.
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