California is in the middle of an insurance crisis. Insurance companies are leaving the state or tearing up policies. But the good news is that the state has the “first openly gay person of color” as its insurance commissioner.
And he’s on the job. Some job. Somewhere. It’s probably best not to ask for details. Because you don’t want them.
But okay, here they are.
For more than nine months, we’ve requested information about 48 of Commissioner Ricardo Lara’s trips. However, the department has only identified a direct business purpose for seven of those trips, three of which included vague descriptions.
The Commissioner took at least 48 trips across the globe since he assumed office in 2019. And that may just be scratching the tarmac, as years of his travel records remain missing from the state.
Newly obtained records now reveal the cost of his security detail for several of his controversial trips. State expenses show trips that listed no insurance-related meetings were five times more expensive than previously reported. Receipts show tens of thousands of department funds were spent on five-star resorts that turned into extended trips — including an African safari and an extended stay at a five-star resort in Dubai.
After nine months of questioning, however, the California Department of Insurance (CDI) was unable to specify those reasons for a series of trips — including a five-star hotel stay in New York City for PrideFest that cost taxpayers more than $11,600. The four-day trip listed no insurance-related meetings on his calendar, but a VIP rooftop event with “DJ Kitty Glitter” made the cut.
DJ Kitty Glitter is an Australian transgender DJ.
Former South Bay Assemblymember Evan Low (D-28) — an openly gay politician who worked closely with Lara — says the security costs may be warranted due to rising threats targeting the LGBTQ community.
Records show Lara’s five-day trip to Bogota, Colombia for an “LGBTI Political Leaders Conference” cost taxpayers more than $24,000. That’s five times more than previously recorded. No insurance-related meetings were listed on his calendar, but receipts show he spent more than $7,000 on “taxi fares.” It turns out a private security firm was hired to accompany him at the conference.
Low, who’s now CEO of the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute, invited Lara to the conference. We asked him what was accomplished during the trip.
“I don’t know the substance of what was discussed during that period of time, but the organization does convene a number of LGBT elected officials to talk about their experiences,” said Low. “What is it like serving? How do you deal with being a public official?”
By spending tens of thousands in taxpayer money to go to an LGBTQ bosses conference in the capital of the drug trade and partying with a transgender DJ in New York City while California’s insurance goes up in smoke.
But California homeowners need to be more appreciative of how lucky they are to have the “first openly gay person of color” as their insurance commissioner while they lose their insurance.