EZ Policy Blog

A good deal of Board of Equalization work, including several pending cases dealing with Enterprise Zones, is being delayed because of a mold problem. As reported in the Sacramento Bee:

The state Board of Equalization has moved employees from two floors of its downtown high-rise headquarters after finding “a variety of molds” growing in the walls.

A memo sent to BOE staff members Monday said the 22nd and 23rd floors of the 24-story building at 450 N St. are off-limits to everyone but construction workers.

Beth Mills, a spokeswoman for the state Department of General Services, said the mold found last week between two layers of gypsum wallboard includes Stachybotrys chartarum, the “black mold” that has been the subject of numerous legal claims and reports of illness nationwide.

BOE says they cleared the two floors because they discovered the mold during repainting. But an attorney pointed out that the move came less than two weeks after he filed claims on behalf of four BOE employees who say that they’ve been sickened by working in the building, and that BOE management has covered up problems stemming from extensive water leakage into the high-rise.

We are hearing that work papers must be tested for mold before they can leave the building. If that wasn’t bad enough, the building is also hosting some endangered species. The Sacramento Bee, via the California Taxpayer’s Association explains:

Interim Deputy Director David Gau (told) BOE employees not to do anything to disturb the creatures. “If any bats should be seen in the building in the future … do not attempt to capture or harm the bat,” Mr. Gau wrote. “Bats are an endangered species and are protected.” The BOE hired a company called United Bat Control to capture the five flying mammals and, at the same bat-time, to inspect the building for clues as to how they entered. “After inspecting the penthouse, roof, and the 12th floor, the contractor was unable to locate any possible, obvious, point of entry,” Mr. Gau wrote. “The contractor also noticed nothing to indicate that there is a colony of bats living in the building.”