Test day!

I took the test for the city of Long Beach yesterday. It wasn't hard at all. Not compared to the county test or what I'm expecting from the LA city test. 100 questions, 90 minutes, and only 15 math questions.Plus they let you use a calculator, which is unique. Most tests don't. The county test is 45 questions with 15 math and no calculator, so it can really kill you if you're not so great on the math.

The rest was filing, grammar, spelling, etc. I'm expecting to pass with no problem.
Another great thing about this city is they tell you when to expect to hear, unlike the county, which leaves you hanging for weeks at a time. When I filled out the app, it said you should get a test date by 8/18. Today they said you should have your results by 9/8 and the typing test will be the week of 9/13. If you don't hear from them by then, you can call. How great for planning is that!

I called my friend when I got home and found out that she and another friend are taking the LA city test the same day I am! I'm hoping to snag a ride to the test with her, lol. I don't think it'll be a problem. I don't think that she'll actually leave her county job for a city job, she just wants to take the test for the practice. The other one however, I wouldn't be surprised if she left the county for the city. The city definitely pays better.

Now for my soapbox of the day. My 2 friends work for the Child Support Department of LA County. Our oh-so-wise governor Arnold is talking about giving child support enforcement to private industry to do and doing away with the child support department of the state to help cut the budget. (In CA, it's run county to county, but overseen by the state.) He can try it, but I just don't see it working.

The child support enforcement process depends on so many other government agencies for support (the courts, the welfare department, the credit bureaus, etc), and I'm not sure there's enough profit to be made for a private company to benefit. First of all, the reason child support has to be enforced is because people are flaky or downright defiant about paying it! It's definitely not a steady and dependable source of revenue. Plus, the money that does come in goes to the children anyway. The only money the company would get is interest on arrears, and we know that's not enough to keep a business running. If it was, the current system of enforcement could support itself and not need state or county funding to run.

A large county like Los Angeles has a caseload of over a half million cases, and a couple thousand employees working and litigating those cases. And oddly enough, all those employees expect to be paid twice a month. They expect their office building to be clean and in good repair. And maybe even their office supplies to be provided! Vendors, like genetic testing labs, expect to be paid. That takes lots of money and lots of people, and I think it will be very difficult for private industry to make enough money to support the operation without outside funding.