PAYCHECKS BOUNCED
By Matthew Hoy
Record Staff Writer
Vandenberg AFB—Vandenberg Air Force Base officials cancelled their contract with the company which ran The Breakers dining hall.
The dining hall closed at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and the enlisted personnel who ate there were put on the Air Force's basic allowance for sustenance program. That program adds an addition $7.87y per day to their paychecks. It is expected to reopen in about two weeks under Air Force administration.
The dining hall served about 400 people and 1,000 meals a day, according to base officials.
The contract was cancelled because there were "multiple areas of the contract that weren't being fulfilled," said Maj. Billy Birdwell, base spokesman. The decision was made jointly by the 30th Contracting Squadron and the 30th Services Squadron at Vandenberg.
Calls made by the Lompoc Record requesting comments from James Thigpen, president of Thigpen Ltd., were not returned.
Problems at The Breakers, which was run by Thigpen Ltd. of Novato until its closure, first drew scrutiny earlier this year when employees complained that their paychecks had bounced.
The Air Force responded by setting up an account to honor the employees' paychecks.
According to base officials, when the dining hall will re-open it is unclear whether the facility would be staffed by military or civilian personnel, or a combination.
"Some people who worked there (under Thigpen Ltd.) might possibly be hired," Birdwell said.
Birdwell also indicated that the Air Force would continue to look for a new contractor to run the facility.
The cancellation of the contract did not come as a surprise to anyone, according to Birdwell.
"It was a well-circulated rumor around the base," he said.
The contract was originally scheduled to end on Oct. 1, but there was an option the Air Force could have exercised to extend the contract through Sept. 30, 1997, Birdwell said.
Meanwhile former employees at The Breakers have been applying for civil service jobs at the facility when it re-opens.
"We've filled out applications to work for the government," said Maureen Taylor, union shop steward.
Taylor, who has worked at the dining hall for 15 years, was happy with the Air Force's move.
"I think they (Thigpen Ltd.) deserved it," she said. "We're glad to be rid of Thigpen."
Published Friday, June 2, 1995 The Lompoc Record.
