Arnold Schwarzenegger's car boot sale

Sold! To the man at the back in the stetson
By Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles
(Filed: 27/08/2004)


Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California, has devised a novel way of raising funds for the cash-strapped state - a giant car boot sale.

The massive spring clean of state property is part of the former Hollywood actor's campaign to flush out "the cobwebs of government".


This Ford Mustang is among the items being sold
The resulting mountain of unwanted items - which were seized by police, confiscated at airports or are simply outdated and unwanted - range from a Ford Mustang and three aircraft engines to 30lbs of assorted scissors and 3,000 light bulbs for traffic signals.

They will be sold today and tomorrow at the "California Garage Sale" in Sacramento, the state capital. Some of the items will also be offered on the online auction site eBay.

The ramshackle collection includes everything from the obvious - old office desks, discarded computers - to the intriguing - a used forklift truck, out-of-date colour film, diamond and gold jewellery and a large number of knives.

Much of the equipment has been stored in crates in a 187,500 sq ft warehouse leased by the Department of General Services. Some of it was bought by government agencies and fell into disuse; other items were seized at airport security checks or in official raids.

Most of the goods "were just sitting here for years gathering dust", said Fred Aguiar, secretary of the State and Consumer Services Agency, who is overseeing the sale.


Four Goodyear Regatta tyres for sale on ebay
"Some of the stuff may have been taken in drug confiscations by the Department of Justice or local jurisdiction. Like the red Mustang - that was part of an asset seizure, forfeiture thing."

Mr Aguiar said he did not know how much the sale would raise. But it is unlikely to be riches. Desks could go for as little as $2 and laptop computers for $20, he said.

However, the state would save money on the warehouse rent - $93,750 (£52,000) a month - by selling the contents, Mr Aguiar added.

In preparation for the sale, the first of its kind, workers spent yesterday sorting through boxes of thousands of knives, scissors and nail clippers - plus power tools and one electric cattle prod - seized at airport checkpoints.

"I don't know what they were thinking trying to get on a plane with these," Mr Aguiar said.

The items for sale also include a popcorn machine, a lemonade dispenser and an espresso machine. The eBay listings read like the prize list for the Generation Game: Panasonic camcorder, Nikon camera, cordless drill, digital scales . . .

Mr Schwarzenegger said: "Eliminating surplus property is just one way we can work together to clean out the cobwebs of government. I am calling on Californians to participate in this historic opportunity to help us eliminate the excess."

The actor-turned-Republican politician is desperate to maximise revenues to honour his promise of no new taxes. Earlier this month he unveiled the 2,700-page California Performance Review, a host of proposals to reorganise and downsize state government that would purportedly save taxpayers $32 billion (£17.8 billion) over five years and help the state budget crisis.

Under former governor Gray Davis, California, which has an economy roughly the same size as Britain's, had a $38 billion (£22.8 billion) budget deficit and debts of $27 billion (£15 billion).

The financial crisis helped Republicans force the vote that unseated Mr Davis and elected Mr Schwarzenegger.

Garage sales are a staple of American life. Every weekend, people can be seen spreading out unwanted possessions on their lawns and driveways to sell to passers-by.

"Everyone, every once in a while, has to clean out their garage," said Mr Aguiar, who told Mr Schwarzenegger about the warehouse. "The State of California has never cleaned out its garage."