California Department of Parks

Everybody seems to be missing the point:
I mean....you are all missing the point    BIG TIME....!!!....

...CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF PARKS....

Has built an entire bureaucracy around it that does not need to exist.

They have spun off an entire "parks police" group....
They have spun off a mysterious "Wildlife" function that pretend to do scientific monitoring
They have spun off a "parks & nature INTERPRETIVE" function...
They have spun off a "park reservations" function.

FIRE THEM ALL.....close every position in PARKS.

1)   The state should CONTRACT for garbage pickup & toilet maintenance,
2)   Carpentery, Painting and Maintenance should be CONTRACTED on an as-needed basis.
3)   Police Service..is already the PREPAID DUTY..!!!..of the County Sheriff in whose jurisdiction the park lies.

While a "RESERVATION SERVICE" for park usage is "nice"....it is certainly not a REQUIREMENT.
In observation of hard budgetary times, the parks can simply be on first-come-first-served.
This arrangement would be less elegant than reservations...but our Parks ran that way for decades.

ALL OF CALIFORNIA PARKS CAN STAY OPEN TO THE PUBLIC WITHOUT THE ADMINISTRATIVE OVERHEAD THAT NOW SURROUNDS THEM.

The California Department of Parks is a wildly eggregious example of bureaucratic empire-building; of FINDING "ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS" that in face are no way essential, important,or necessary and in fact which, when arrayed against other functions that are already performed by other state, county or city agencies, are strictly and inanely duplicative.

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I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN A LISTING OF ALL THE "CAREER POSITIONS" THAT EXIST WITHIN THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF PARKS.
These positions were taken from their "careers with the Park Department" webpage

This is what you are paying for.
Is it reasonable:


Account Clerk II
Accountant I
Accountant Trainee
Accounting Administrator I
ACCOUNTING ADMR II
Accounting Officer
Accounting Technician
Administrative Assistant I
Administrative Assistant II
Administrative Officer I
Administrative Officer II
Administrative Officer III
Assistant Information Systems Analyst
Associate Accounting Analyst
Associate Budget Analyst
Associate Governmental Program Analyst
Associate Information Systems Analyst
Associate Landscape Architect
Associate Management Analyst
Associate Management Auditor
Associate Personnel Analyst
Associate Programmer Analyst
Business Service Assistant
Business Service Officer I
Business Service Officer II
Business Service Officer III
Career Executive Assignment
Chief Deputy Director
Data Processing Manager II
Deputy Director Communications
Deputy Director For Community Affairs
Deputy Director, Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation
Deputy Director, Office of Marketing and Revenue Generation
Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer
Digital Print Operator II
Director
Executive Assistant
Executive Secretary I
Graduate Student Assistant
Information Officer I (Specialist)
Information Systems Technician Specialist I
Labor Relations Analyst
Labor Relations Manager I
Mailing Machines Operator I
Management Service Technician
Office Assistant
Office Services Supervisor I
Office Services Supervisor II
Office Technician
Personnel Services Supervisor I
Personnel Specialist
Personnel Supervisor I
Regional Administrative Technician
Regional Interpretive Specialist
Research Analyst I
Research Analyst II
Research Program Specialist I
Research Program Specialist II
Research Writer
Secretary
Senior Accounting Officer
Senior Administrative Analyst -Accounting Systems
Senior Information Systems Analyst
Senior Personnel Specialist
Special Assistant To The Director
Staff Counsel III
Staff Counsel
Staff Information Systems Analyst
Staff Management Auditor
Staff Services Analyst
Staff Services Management Auditor
Staff Services Manager I
Staff Services Manager II
Staff Services Manager III
Stanford Mansion Director
State Historic Preservation Officer
Supervising Management Auditor
Telecommunications Systems Analyst II
Training Officer I
Education and Interpretation Positions

Archivist I
Archivist II
Associate Editor of Publications
Exhibit Designer/Coordinator
Exhibit Specialist
Exhibit Technician
Graphic Designer I
Graphic Designer II
Graphic Designer III
Guide I Historical Monument
Guide II Historical Monument
Guide Trainee Historical Monument
Photographer
Regional Interpretive Specialst
Research Writer
Senior Photographer
State Historian I
State Historian II
State Historian III
State Park Interpreter I
State Park Interpreter II
State Park Interpreter III
Supervising Librarian I
Facilities Positions

Architectural Designer
Associate Architect
Associate Civil Engineer
Associate Estimator Of Building Construction
Automobile Mechanic
Boat Operator
Carpenter I
Carpenter II
Carpenter Supervisor
Civil Engineering Associate
Civil Engineering Technician II
Construction Supervisor I
Construction Supervisor II
Construction Supervisor III
Departmental Construction and Maintenance Supervisor
Electrician I
Equipment Management Supervisor
Groundskeeper
Heavy Equipment Mechanic
Laboratory Technician-Chemical Analysis
Laborer
Landscape Architect
Lead Groundskeeper
Maintenance Aide
Maintenance Mechanic
Materials And Stores Specialist
Mechanic's Helper
Museum Custodian
Museum Technician

Painter I
Park Landscape Maintenance Technician
Park Maintenance Assistant
Park Maintenance Assistant
Park Maintenance Chief I
Park Maintenance Chief II
Park Maintenance Chief III
Park Maintenance Supervisor
Park Maintenance Worker I
Park Maintenance Worker I
Park Maintenance Worker II
Rail Transportation Assistant
Railroad Restoration Specialist
Restoration and Maintenance Lead Worker, Historic Railroads
Restoration Supervisor II
Restoration Work Specialist

Senior Architect
Senior Civil Engineer
Senior Industrial Hygienist
Senior Land Agent
Senior Land Surveyor
Senior Landscape Architect
Senior Restoration Architect
Skilled Laborer
Skilled Trades Journeyman
Sr. Maintenance Aide
State Park Equipment Operator
State Park Land Officer
Stationary Engineer
Supervising Architect
Supervising Groundskeeper II
Supervising Land Agent
Supervising Landscape Architect
Transportation Surveyor Party Chief
Transportation Surveyor
Warehouse Worker
Water and Sewage Plant Supervisor
Water and Sewage Plant Supervisor Public Safety Positions
Recreation Positions

Associate Park and Recreation Specialist
Park and Recreation Specialist
Pool Lifeguard
Staff Park and Recreation Specialist
Senior Park and Recreation Specialist
Resource Protection Positions

Assistant State Archeologist
Assistant State Park Resource Ecologist
Associate State Archeologist
Associate State Park Resource Ecologist
Engineering Geologist
Environmental Scientist
Forester I
Forester II
Museum Curator I
Museum Curator II
Museum Curator III
Senior Environmental Scientist
Senior Geologist
Senior State Archeologist
Supervising State Park Resource Ecologist
 Featured Links
Becoming a State Employee
Locate a Recruiter
Ranger Cadets
Lifeguard Cadets

 

Judd Smith

You sound a little angry. I guess I am missing the point. There are something like 220 State Parks in California. If every employee was fired, do you really think the parks would be in as good a shape that they are now? I don't think so, but who am I but another opinion..................

Thanks for posting this info, Judd, very interesting. I never realized how deep the worm had dug itself. A lot of those positions do seem unnecessary and costly I might add

Mahi......no, I don't think the parks would be as "nice" as they are.

When budget-cutting, I'd chose not-as-nice-but-open.....to....."we are closing the parks because we cannot staff all the extraneous services that are the result of years of Bureaucratic Empire Building"...

Judd

judd, thanks for the reality check. i think the same is true for most government agencies both state and federal. they all need to be overhauled and downsized. unfortunately the beaurocrats with all the power will never let it happen. they are all about preserving their privalidges. what is best for the people, never enters the equation. that is why we need a peaceful revolution. its like having car that cost a fortune,runs like shit, always breaks-down,gets 2mi/ga and never quite gets you where you are going. it sucks!!

 I don't know if it's true, but I heard the Feds are threatening to take over the State parks if the State closes them down.

You sound a little angry. I guess I am missing the point. There are something like 220 State Parks in California. If every employee was fired, do you really think the parks would be in as good a shape that they are now? I don't think so, but who am I but another opinion..................

Hey, Mahi and I are on the same side on this one.  Agreed.

Just my .02, but I worked in basic maintenance in State Parks in 2008, cleaning bathrooms, hauling garbage, digging up really stinky French drains, cleaning fire pits, pruning trees and weed whipping trails and such at Van Damme for $9.98 per hour.

It was honest and steady work, and I took pride in it, and enjoyed helping the park run better and being helpful with campers. But the inefficiency and bureaucracy of the system in general finally drove me batty, along with the mean public looks I'd sometimes get just for having to wear a uniform.

It was sad because a lot of the folks I worked with were really good hardworking people who really did care, but the system can just be so overwhelming, I finally couldn't handle it. I really always thought about us the taxpayers for what I was actually giving and getting. I just couldn't handle it and quit and never collected unemployment. Those were all the "dues" that I had in me to give. I wish I could have stuck with it. I guess I was a wimp.

I was on the list to get a better job there as "Maintenance 1" but I just couldn't do it. I hope someone is still there still trying to keep those bathrooms clean and the Park looking beautiful. I don't want to be cynical or bitter but I just couldn't do it anymore, personally.

Funny, because of all the State Parks jobs in the long list that Judd rightfully cited, I felt more connected to the campers themselves than any other. Sorry if this all sounds self righteous, but I was there doing real hard work, at the lowest Park pay. I look back on it as a very interesting Summer job, and I still love State Parks.

Sigh!

Mahi......no, I don't think the parks would be as "nice" as they are.

When budget-cutting, I'd chose not-as-nice-but-open.....to....."we are closing the parks because we cannot staff all the extraneous services that are the result of years of Bureaucratic Empire Building"...

Judd

AMEN

One of the most civilized ideas that I've ever heard about how to Save California State Parks is the $15 vehicle tax with free parks pass for all Californians.  I'm sorry if it sounds "socialist".

I know it will only work for people who actually use Califorrnia State Parks, and that is not everybody.

I agree with Judd that there are too many job descriptions. I'd like to see the day when the basic maintenance of Callifornia State Parks might again be in the hands of basic Californians.

I was fired for cleaning bathrooms in State Parks with integrity.

The $15 license fee would raise $450M, while the parks budget shortfall is only $70M.  I guess the rest would go where our bay-delta stamp funds went....