State official blasts Shelley hiring practices

[davidinalameda]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/01/26/MNG12B0HHF1.DTL

The son of a woman who allegedly funneled questionable donations to Secretary of State Kevin Shelley was promoted in Shelley's office after someone in the office altered the grade on his civil service examination, a top state personnel official said Tuesday.

Floyd Shimomura, executive director of the State Personnel Board, said it appeared Andrew Lee was promoted after his score on the exam was changed from a 23 or 24 out of 60, which does not meet the minimum 70 percent required for passage. He said Lee's hiring is being referred to Attorney General Bill Lockyer's office for further investigation.

Shimomura said the hiring and promotion of Lee and other political supporters appeared to be part of a "spoils system" Shelley's office used to reward his backers. Lee's mother, Julie Lee, is the target of an FBI investigation into whether part of a $500,000 state grant Shelley helped arrange was funneled into his 2002 campaign for secretary of state.


and it's just going to get worse