Mission Not Accomplished.
Yesterday after a seven hour meeting of the trial court budget working group, the parties agreed in principle to an 8.8% reduction to the trial courts, a 12% reduction to the Judicial Council and its administrative arm, the AOC and a one year hold on a defective application that is not ready for deployment. The latter part concerns us the most because we want to see this program gutted of everything but essential support services for those who already have the program. The AOC had planned to spend 125 million this year on this vaporware crapplet that was riddled with bugs. While the plan was to deploy the application to the early adopters, the AOC has not met any of the criteria to even consider deployment.
Mark Moore accepted the vaporware crapplet as complete, knowing it was riddled with major bugs and insurmoutable architectural challenges. Nowhere in any editorial, nowhere in any op-ed, nowhere in any AOC press release have you seen any challenge to what the trial courts have written about this program, courthouse news has written about this program or what we have written about this program. In fact, as usual, the silence from the AOC is deafing regarding all of the challenges brought up by all parties.
So exactly, what does a one year deployment delay on an application riddled with bugs and insurmountable architectural challenges mean when that program has a $125 million dollar budget? Frankly, we don’t know. If we were in the AOC’s shoes, lying to the public about this program, lying to the judiciary about this program and lying to the legislature about this program, why stop lying to everyone now? I mean, was that 125 million for deployment services? Was it to fix the bug-riddled application? Was it to continue development on the application or was it a little of each? What was the 125 million for? These are the elements that need to be scrutinized in greater detail because if the application was riddled with bugs and wasn’t ready, 125 million might still be able to get dumped into the development of the program while you delay deployment. We believe that you want to know where every dime budgeted for CCMS goes in this proposal before and after the work of the trial court budget working group. Delaying deployment could concievably leave all 125 million in the AOC’s hands and we’re betting that we’re not far off the mark on this as the cuts to the trial courts remain too deep and the cuts to the AOC remain too few.
Bloated with a management ratio of 1 manager to every 2.7 workers, Tonto has indicated that the AOC will not be filling vacant positons. Let’s discuss this “vacant position” bullshit. Currently, the AOC is using temps and consultants and backfilling them in vacant positions as to show them as being filled. Case in point: Recently, the Human Resources department re-contracted for two labor relations negotiators. These labor relations negotiators chosen are private employment law attorneys in private practice with their own clients having their contracts renewed every 90 days for 45K apiece. And here is the kicker. Because they are employment law attorneys maintaining a private practice, this precludes them from doing the actual work of a labor relations negotiator for the AOC. What it does do is hold these positions open with really expensive placeholders when they should be eliminated.
While this is one of the more egrigous examples of stuffing really expensive bodies in to hold positions open, this behavior transcends every division within the AOC. They’ve created many positions they didn’t need in the first place while maintaining this unconscionable management ratio., filling the management and supervisor slots first. The highly paid, no-bid “forever consultants” remain on the job at the AOC as well even though their services could be had at a fraction of the cost elsewhere. And in this press release we hear Tonto talk of staff layoffs, yet no management layoffs. The untentable bureaucracy that exists to perpetuate itself hasn’t budged one milimeter. A 12% cut is a proverbial drop in the bucket for AOC’s wasteful operations and by promising so much less to CCMS, these wasteful operations will continue to flourish. To make any dent in the bureaucracy that is the AOC, the budgetary hit that needed to occur was a 25% hit plus a substantial portion of the CCMS budget, plus a diversion of some construction funds. This all should have resulted in no further cuts to the trial courts this year and possibly no cuts next year with the wholesale elimination of CCMS. In this respect, we’re disappointed that it appears that the vaporware crapplet and wasteful spending still takes precedence to leaving the trial courts intact.
What we didn’t see, what we would like to see is a statement from the AOC that they’re actually going to follow through on, such as “Out of the 125 million dollars budget to CCMS this fiscal year, 90% of those funds will be diverted to trial court operations” You didn’t see that, did you? No. The vaporware crapplet known as CCMS remains with a whopping budget from as far as we can tell, with a commitment to delay deployment for a year. What does that do to that 125 million? How much of that 125 million is dedicated and budgeted to V1,/V2, V3 and V4 teams within the AOC? What portion of that money will be going to deloitte this year? And most importantly, what will be saved by delaying deployment for a year that gets diverted to the trial courts?
What other statements were not made? What else didn’t you hear?
We don’t believe that enough was done to save trial court operations. What’s more is that this is all proposed and could change on the 22nd.
What are your thoughts?
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Apparently, we’re not the only people who hold this opinion that not enough was done. Below is a letter from the Alliance of California Judges to their members released a few hours ago-
_________________________________________________________
Dear Members and Others:
The Trial Court Budget Working Group has approved the AOC staff recommended options discussed in our last communications. This includes a one-year suspension of CCMS deployment. However, the recommendations fall short. As we have pointed out previously, the proposal still funds approximately $70 million for operation and maintenance of CCMS V4, V3, and V2, and additional money to fund CCTC operations related to CCMS. The recommendation only delays deployment for one year. On-going costs for CCMS continue unabated. This failed and out-dated technology experiment has cost the branch $600 million to date, and it needs to be ended now.
The recommendations also fall short of the cuts needed to the AOC itself, and to the Judicial Branch Facility Program operations. Nothing has been proposed regarding the pension benefits of top staff. The Judicial Council needs to consider long term statewide administrative cuts at the 50% level, not 12%.
These solutions, along with some additional redirection of construction funds, could deliver more than an additional $100 million annually to the trial courts for operations.
The AOC staff is not the best judge of how it should reduce its own existence, nor should they be put in a position to evaluate the projects they have championed. We urge the Judicial Council to step outside the staff recommendations and look at the issues independently. The time has come for the Judicial Council to embrace what many judges have called coordinated decentralization, and to evaluate a permanent restructuring at substantially reduced levels of statewide management.
We have included a link to an ABC piece which aired earlier this week. Simply click the link below to watch the video, which includes commends by ACJ Director Judge Dan Goldstein. We have also included two articles which we hope you will find interesting, one on AOC executive compensation,the other dealing with yesterday’s actions of the TCBWG.
http://www.10news.com/video/28529192/index.html
Thank you for your continued support.
Directors,
Alliance of California Judges
_______________________________________________________
SFWeekly –Death by 1000 cuts
Capitol Weekly – Order in the Court: Budget hit takes it’s toll
Courthouse News – Lavish Pensions for upper crust court execs
concerned
July 14, 2011
When will someone in Sacramento demand that the AOC stop wasting taxpayer money on this bullshit ass computer system known as CCMS? I find it hard to believe that no one can put an end to this waste. I find it hard to believe that the AOC is being allowed to use money that is supposed to be used to keep our courts open on this bullshit! How are they allowed to continuosly hiring people with high salaries and courts like San Francisco are about to layoff 200 employees which equals 40 percent of their work staff? If it happens to the San Francisco courts, trust over time it will happen to other courts. They will have to struggle to operate while they folks at the AOC are untouched.
Why aren’t the judges being more v ocal about it. Why aren’t the news media covering this on a daily basis? Why aren’t employees, unions and judges in Sacramento raising hell. Its as if they are affraid. I just don’t understand it.
When will this nightmare end? When will this wrong be righted? When will someone have the balls to stand up to the AOC?
It better be sooner than later!
JusticeCalifornia
July 14, 2011
ONE YEAR AGO TODAY. . . . . .
http://aocwatcher.wordpress.com/2010/07/14/justice-ron-george-announces-retirement/
The comments are interesting, and show that anyone with half a brain paying attention to what was going on would have taken steps to address the problems set forth in the above referenced AOC thread.
But Wendy Darling’s last comment says it all– we need to stop wasting time thinking Tani Cantil Sakauye is going to do anything other than tow the party line (unless forced to, via legislative letters telling her to bounce Vickrey). RG stepped down knowing he could count on RB2. Wendy’s 7/21/10 comment:
“Ron Overholt attended a meeting of the AOC’s Executive Office Program (EOP) this afternoon around 3 p.m. and told the AOC employees in attendance that Governor Schwarzenegger’s nominee for Chief Justice, Tani Cantil-Sakauye, sits on the Judicial Council and “we’ve known her for about 5 years”, she is an advocate for CCMS and defended CCMS in the media with Justice Hill, that the employees don’t need to “worry about Bill and I”, they “know Tani” and we work very well with her, and he and Bill “aren’t planning on going anywhere.”
Overholt was also asked about the cost and funding of the various courthouse construction projects, and Overholt indicated it was just going to be business as usual as far as courthouse construction.
So, apparently, as indicated from the proverbial horse’s mouth, nothing is changing here and it’s Ron George II.”
Wendy Darling
July 14, 2011
Actually, it was Gert T. Hirschberg that really said it all:
“Our body builder turned movie star turned Governor has surpassed only himself in his midnight gubernatorial actions. … But none of his deeds or misdeeds exceeded the damage he did upon the people of California with his appointment of the new Chief Justice,” Tani Cantil-Sakauye.
IN MY OPINION (Column)
Felix Frankfurter, She Is Not
http://www.metnews.com/
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
By GERT K. HIRSCHBERG
Long live the ACJ.
concerned
July 14, 2011
Justice California,
What needs to be done is that every court employee needs to start a campaign and bombard their elected officials with letter, faxes, phone calls and sound the alarm as to what is happening. How can JoeBlows off the streets, people who are not even attornies, ie Ron “SlimeBall” Ooverholt be in a position to have say over how California trial courts are ran. Why isn’t someone alerting the public as to what is happening? What is going to have to happen is some criminal is going to have to commit an unspeakable crime and when the public learns he was out on the streets because the courts were dismantled by the AOC and the criminal was released/never prosecuted, then and only then will there be public outcry.
As far as RO is concerned, people need to be aware of his record. Look at what he did when he was CEO in So.Cal and Alameda county. I for one knew when I heard he was with the AOC that the courts were in troble. He and Vickery are no different then Bernie Madoff. They are crooks, instead of stealing peoples retirement money those two are stealing taxpayer money, using it for their own pet projects.
Where is Diane Feinstein? Why isn’t she on the horn to Sacramento trying to find out what’s going on in her state. She was once a lawyer am I correct? The situation with our trial courts should be a great concern of hers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JusticeCalifornia
July 14, 2011
Concerned, I was not criticizing Joe Blows off the street for not acting. My “half a brain” comment was aimed squarely at Tani and company.
At this point, first and foremost, judges statewide must step forward and act.
AB 1208 is sitting there, and as far as I know the ACJ is more than willing to discuss it with anyone who is interested. If you don’t like AB 1208 as drafted, talk about it with the ACJ.
As far as I know, legislators need to hear support for AB1208 because they were cowed by Tani’s fake claim that she was insulted by Calderon’s comment that she was nice, smart and attractive, and Senator Noreen Evans’ politically calculated call to faux-feminist arms based on that comment. Maybe people ought to be calling Noreen Evans and blasting her for going
along with the faux-feminist garbage about Tani, and helping get the branch and its employees further into this mess.
The branch can let Tani and company continue business as usual, via her stupid red herring faux feminism, and her whimpers that she is new and needs a chance to show what she can do, or take action.
People, look at the AOC Watcher from a year ago, and take action. Call your legislators and especially call Noreen Evans and tell her you DON’T appreciate her interference with AB1208. How easy is that? I just made my call to her office and told her staff that Evan’s use of Calderon’s comment to block AB 1208 is an insult to professional women everywhere, because the substance of that bill is of far more importance than any comment about the chief justice’s personality or appearance. Pick up your phone and make your call NOW (or wait until your lunch break, you don’t want to get fired). Then call your own legislator. Send a message today, the anniversary of George’s announced retirement, that you are mad as hell and are not going to take it anymore. It will take you less than five minutes. Tell your friends and family to call, too. You have a voice, use it.
Noreen’s info:
Capitol Office:
State Capitol,
1303 10th Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-651-4002
Fax: 916-323-6958
concerned
July 14, 2011
Justice California,
My remark regarding JoeBlows was directed @ certain members of the AOC only. In speaking with several people, the general feeling is that we as court emplyees are going to half to take actions into our own hands! Sitting around waiting for Ms.Tani to do the RIGHT thing and follow the recommendations of the judges is not going to work. She has shown that she’s a puppet. What she fail to realize is when all of this(the courts) comes crashing down, and trust, it will, she and only she will be the one blamed. She needs to wake up and fast!
Thanks for the information regarding Noreen Evans info. Its been passed along to others to contact her. It was not known she was so appalled by a few remarks, that weren’t mean spirited, and run with it. What would be said if Ms tani was dumb and unattractive? Total BS!
Also don’t know if you are represnted by SEIU, but as far as we see it, they ARE NOT doing a thing for us. Why we pay dues to them? They need to be organizing bus trips to Sacramento to face the very same people we as voters put in office and let them KNOW we as voters WON’T be voting for them again come next election year.
Threaten their jobs, checks and lively hood and they will react. See how fast they passed a budget when their checks were threatened.
Another thing, SEIU should be contacting the media statewide and sound the alarms loud and clear! Use some of that money we pay the 26 times a year!
PS: the thumbs down you got on your last post was intended to be a thumbs up!!!! The wrong thumb was selected.:)
Michael Paul
July 14, 2011
Bingo. The AOC claims it has no reserves. CCMS funding is the AOC’s reserves.From my discussions with various AOC employees nothing has changed since I left and in some cases, all of this excess management is making things worse as these people have created new hoops to jump through to justify their existence.
Justice California has it right. Pick up your telephone and give someone a piece of your mind. What would be better is writing a letter. If you’re female, ensure that Noreen Evans is on your list in addition to your local senator and assemblyperson.
JCW – As seen over YenWire, please give Ron George a glowing tribute on this 221st anniversary of Bastille Day – a celebration of the start of the battle the ripped french governance from the hands of feudalists. Then resolve to rip your own governance from the hands of other feudalists.
antonatrail
July 14, 2011
Every single point made above is excellent! Right on, people! Here’s to Bastille Day!
sharonkramer
July 14, 2011
With all due respect, calling your legislators does not have an impact on something of this magnitude, unless tens of thousands of people called – and even then its not likely to change the situation. There is no bill currently on the agenda for them to support any time in the near future. No bill. No action.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that we have some of the best and brightest legal minds in the State of California who recognize the threat to the Constitution from what is occurring.
We don’t need no politicians. We have judges with law degrees who are obligated by oath to assure ethics by themselves and their fellow judiciaries are adhered to. We have members of the media who understand the deceit and the impact from it, in detail. We have whistle blowers, with evidence in hand, in our midsts.
Let’s think outside the box. How can we do this ourselves and force change without going to anyone else for help? Surely, there is some sort of legal action that could be taken to stop this.
Judicial Council Watcher
July 14, 2011
A letter from the Alliance of California Judges regarding yesterdays actions has been appended to the primary post-
Judicial Council Watcher
July 14, 2011
Oops! The ABC News / ACJ Director Dan Goldstein link has been fixed.
Wendy Darling
July 14, 2011
Published today, Thursday, July 14, by The Metropolitan News Enterprise:
Panels Recommend Yearlong Implementation Delay for CCMS
By a MetNews Staff Writer
http://www.metnews.com/
Long live the ACJ.
antonatrail
July 14, 2011
OMG, it was said again! We’re soooo close, CCMS will be ready by the end of August, then should be going to the courts in September. Ooooo-weeeee, what a crushing disappointment that CCMS will be on hiatus for a year! Oh [sigh] we were soooo close! All the wonderful, hard work just down the drain, all the fault of those bad, nasty people who are demanding that the courts remain open and that the software be viable before slamming — I mean installing it in the courts! [wringing of hands]
Dammit, let’s have sturdy proof of these spurious claims that CCMS would be “ready” by the end of August!
What? Wasn’t the crapplett accepted already by the AOC? What’s this “ready” sh*1 claim being made now?? Sheeshhh.
Judicial Council Watcher
July 14, 2011
Note to self: When being fundamentally dishonest as a group, be sure to compare notes with others so at least the lie you tell is the same lie from person to person.
There was never any intention of deployment. Only further development funding which, if given to the AOC will be spent that way, less the money they lost from the 12% budget cut.
Either the application is ready now or it will be ready on Aug 1, depending on which neurotic compulsive liar you wish to believe. In any case, if the application is complete, why would they need 70 million dollars for an application that is complete?
Answer: They don’t. This remains AOC’s “reserves”.
courtwatcher
July 14, 2011
Believe it or not, the $70 million is for one year of CCMS (V4, V3, V2 and Sustain) support and maitenance in the courts using those systems. About $50 million of that is for the 5 or 6 courts using the CCMS products. Can you imagine how much annual support woudl be if this disaster was ever fully deployed?? $500 million plus each year???
Judicial Council Watcher
July 14, 2011
A public service message for those running the CCMS program-
Wendy Darling
July 14, 2011
Published today, Thursday, July 14, from The Recorder, the on-line publication of CalLaw, by Cheryl Miller:
AOC Revises Numbers on Trial Court Cuts, but Future Still Looks Grim
Cheryl Miller
http://www.law.com/jsp/ca/PubArticleCA.jsp?id=1202501158741&AOC_Revises_Numbers_on_Trial_Court_Cuts_but_Future_Still_Looks_Grim&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1
Long live the ACJ.
sharonkramer
July 14, 2011
Isn’t this problematic computer system in Denver done by the same contractors who brought us CCMS?
Colorado computer benefits system cited in federal audit for “serious,” ongoing problems
“The long-troubled Colorado Benefits Management System failed eight different tests in a federal review released late Wednesday, with auditors pointing to new “serious” problems while saying past failures are “nearly the same” despite five years of fixes.”
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_18424589
Michael Paul
July 14, 2011
Dumb or Dumbest?
CBMS
CCMS
Both boondoggles.
Both written by Deloitte.
Enough said.
Wendy Darling
July 14, 2011
Speaking of dumb and dumbest . . .
The AOC’s HR Director, Ernesto Fuentes, held a division meeting today to inform the HR employees that there are going to be cuts in the division. Fuentes also informed the employees that the cuts would be from the line staff, not the management.
It apparently is a greater priority for the AOC to pay the HR Division Director $18,000 a month to sit in his office watching his big screen tv and playing on his computer or with his Ipad, and send the rest of his management staff to Las Vegas paid for with public money, than it is to keep the people who actually do the work.
Fuentes also added that there will be an additional 3% cut to the Division next year, but didn’t explain what this statement was based on, but that’s not unusual for the HR Director.
Long live the ACJ.
sharonkramer
July 14, 2011
New Federal lawsuit over failed DA case mgmt system in Nevada
Clark County DA’s office sues New Jersey company over ‘failed’ technology
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/jun/07/clark-county-das-office-sues-new-jersey-company-ov/
sharonkramer
July 15, 2011
I asked a friend of mine just a couple of questions about Deloitte and case management systems. This is truncated of the response I received:
You’re probably thinking that CCMS has got to be the biggest con job ever pulled off by Deloitte and the biggest screwup. And California has blown the most money on a dumb Deloitte project. You’d think but …..
CCMS is only in maybe second place even though the AOC has striven mightily to catch up to first place. Where does the front runner award go to? Look down in Texas. It started off with a dumb project called TIES done by EDS, but now it’s TIERS, done by Deloitte. (The added “R” is for redesign.) And Accenture had a hand for a while in picking Texans’ pocketbooks. But the front running award (by probably a few hundred million still) goes to TIERS. Look at http://www.hhs.state.tx.us/consolidation/IE/TIERS.shtml. Recognize the…. type of con job? Well, let’s look at little further.
Look at http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/04/19/19human.html. ….these folks had a bit of a head start on California and CCMS in getting into the really, really stupid spending range. Look at http://www.hhs.state.tx.us/news/release/110107_TIERS_QNA.shtml
Remember…CBMS in Colorado? Look at http://www.offthekuff.com/mt/archives/005006.html. Hint: Ed Kahn is one of the lawyers in a Colorado lawsuit concerning CBMS. They’ve been at in Colorado since 2004 when CBMS went live. Similar technology in the two states. They signed a stipulated judgment/agreement in December 2007 in Colorado and it still doesn’t work and threats of contempt can’t make it work.
Fast forward in Texas from 2005 to 2008. Look at http://capitolannex.com/2008/02/21/tiers-system-failing-texas-families/.
Note this one and the dollar figures. http://fatherjohn.blogspot.com/2007/04/texas-observer-trail-of-tiers.html from 2007 and they were already up to $415 Million.
CCMS was way behind. But the race continued. http://fatherjohn.blogspot.com/2007/12/trail-of-tiers-continues.html
TIERS played a major part in Texas 2008 political races. http://shapleigh.org/news/print/1756-texas-welfare-privatization-efforts-snagged
Everyone was mad by then. Employees were in tears, people were at each other’s throats, etc. http://hhscemployee.blogspot.com/2008/07/legislative-oversight-committee-on.html
But surely by 2011, it’s all fixed, right? To see what those trying to use TIERS must go through, look at http://www.twc.state.tx.us/boards/guides/tiersrefguide.pdf Sound wonderful? Yeah, except that it doesn’t work worth a damn. The manual has 198 pages of nonsense that no one can learn.
courtflea
July 16, 2011
old old news on Deloitte. many of you should read the AOC watcher to catch up on the history of the movement. Very informative!