Last May, Governor Jerry Brown threatened to close 70 state parks in order to help balance the budget and plug the holes of the sinking ship that is California. 

 

Immediately, park-loving activists went to work and through bake sales and donations, the public helped save 69 of the 70 parks.

But then, oops---California auditors recently looked under their government couch cushions and located over $286 million in “misplaced” funds.

From the L.A. Times (emphasis added):  “Gov. Jerry Brown's administration on Friday announced that $119 million more in untapped money was found in a sweeping audit of state accounts, bringing to more than $286.5 million the sum lawmakers were unaware of as they repeatedly cut government services…The additional money that lawmakers were unaware of includes funds for healthcare programs, reimbursement of crime victims and cleanup of underground petroleum tanks.”

“Unaware of”??  Even if I won the lottery and became a gazillionaire, I can’t imagine not being aware of $286.5 million. 

A Mercury News review found at least 17 accounts that “appeared to have significantly more serve cash than what individual departments reported to the finance department.” 

This sudden bounty of cash is causing a few more headaches for Brown. 

For one, the activists, local governments and non-profits that collected money to save the state parks are now asking for refunds.

"There was a sense of betrayal," said Carolyn Schoff, head of the California League of Parks Associations, an alliance of nonprofits. "We're the ones in the trenches raising funds for state parks, and now there's a dark shadow over us."