SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (news - web sites) is holding a rummage sale to dispose of unwanted state property from aircraft engines to jewellery.
The "California Garage Sale" will take place on Friday and Saturday in the state capital Sacramento and some of the items will also be offered by online auctioneer eBay.
The items include office furniture -- most of the state's furniture is made by prisoners -- 30 pounds of scissors, forklifts, knives, expired colour film, computers, jewellery, a red 1995 Ford Mustang and even baseball cards.
"Some of the stuff may have been confiscated in drug confiscations, by the Department of Justice (news - web sites), or local jurisdictions," said Fred Aguiar, who is overseeing the sale as State and Consumer Services Agency secretary. "Like the red Mustang, that was part of an asset seizure, forfeiture thing."
Some items at the sale, said to be the first of its kind for the state, were confiscated at airports. Yet much of what is on offer was purchased by government agencies and eventually fell into misuse or was forgotten about.
Although state officials are hoping to bring in millions of dollars in a larger program to dispose of unused assets including property, they would not estimate how much the garage sale would generate.
Aguiar says desks would sell for as low as $2, laptop computers for as little as $20 and bargaining would be allowed. As of Wednesday, the Ford Mustang has attracted an eBay bid of $5,600.
"Eliminating surplus property is just one way we can work together to clean out the cobwebs of government," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "I am calling on Californians to participate in this historic opportunity to help us eliminate the excess."
The actor-turned governor is seeking to maximise revenues in the cash-strapped state to keep his pledge of no new taxes.
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Originally Posted by p3rsian
How ironic indeed...
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