The impact of California's budget impasse boggles the mind with big numbers.

Tens of billions of dollars at stake. Uncertainty for programs serving millions of kids, the infirm, the poor and seniors.

State workers – back on furloughs this month ostensibly because of the budget deadlock – see the mess up close and personal.

Ronald Myracks, a state unemployment claims office manager in Inglewood, sent an e-mail at 8:50 a.m. on July 22: "As you probably know, there is a problem with the entry door on the south end of the building."

He told the 175 employees in the building that he had informed the appropriate division, "and they are planning to request emergency funds to fix the lock."

An employee who faxed Myracks' e-mail to The State Worker from a FedEx store said that the broken lock uses a push-button system that only occasionally works.

"It makes me nervous," said the employee. "It's not safe. There's a lot of gang activity around our office."

Frustrated workers propped open the door, which made Myracks nervous. "I am very uneasy about the door being open because of the 'elements' in the surrounding area," he wrote, and ordered the door kept closed.

"If you are unable to enter the building after several attempts to open the door, please ring the doorbell and someone will let you in."

Myracks said he'd find out "within the hour if emergency funds will be secured" for a repair."

At 10:30 a.m. the next day, he followed up: "Unfortunately, since we do not have a state budget signed, we cannot request the aforementioned repair job."

On Tuesday morning we asked Employment Development Department spokeswoman Patti Roberts about the door and the memos.

She responded, noting that like all state departments, EDD can't spend on anything but emergencies until a budget is in place.

"Upon first review in the case of the door in the Inglewood office, it was deemed a non-emergency repair situation since there was the availability of another door for staff to enter and exit.

"But upon further review by senior management, this situation could certainly be considered an employee security issue. So we now plan to obtain a repair quote and determine if this matter can be taken care of under our limited spending authority for emergency situations."

We asked a few more questions Wednesday including this one: What's the cost to fix the lock?

"We're in the process of getting an estimate for repair – don't anticipate it will cost more than a couple hundred dollars, but we anticipate this will fall under our emergency limited spending authority," Roberts wrote in an e-mail at 3:31 p.m.

Roberts sent another at 4:50 p.m.: "Also, the door is scheduled to be fixed today."

And finally, at 4:53 p.m.: "Also, it's $300."

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Call The Bee's Jon Ortiz, (916) 321-1043. Read his blog, The State Worker, at www.sacbee.com/blogs.

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