In page after page of its findings, the CalPERS audit criticizes Vernon's practice of submitting misleading job and compensation information to the pension fund that had the effect of incorrectly inflating the retirement benefits of top city administrators.
At one point, the audit reminds Vernon officials that "Only compensation earnable... can be reported to CalPERS and considered in calculating retirement benefits."
What kind of behavior would prompt such a remedial directive?
Among the corrupt practices used by Vernon officials, the most egregious was paying individuals up to six times for the same hour worked. For example, several top Vernon officials were paid for doing multiple full-time jobs even though by law any work outside of one full-time job is considered overtime and should not be reported to the state to calculate pension benefits.
To conceal the fraud, Vernon officials kept two sets of records. The internal set documented each full-time job an official was tasked with - which for some was up to six. Malkenhorst had ten.
Just one further reminder that California's real fiscal problem has precious little to do with insufficient revenue.By paying each multiply-employed official the entire salary of each job, annual compensation for people like Malkenhorst and former associate Eric T. Fresch was able to reach $911,000 and $1.6 million in a single year, respectively.
