D.A. Gives 2 Women Deadbeat Dad Checks

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti on Thursday presented checks for $150,262 to Lynda Goldberg of Encino and $85,000 to Theresa Stringer of the Antelope Valley.

The ex-husbands of the two women had for years refused to pay. At a news conference in the Encino offices of the Bureau of Family Support Operations, Goldberg and Stringer thanked the district attorney’s office for helping them get the money owed their children.

“Eight years ago my husband left me with an infant son and a 4-year-old daughter, vowing he would never pay a penny of support,” Goldberg said. “He spent over $300,000 on lawyers to keep that promise.”

Goldberg and her attorney Kim Holland said it was only when threatened with the loss of his driver’s license that he relented.

“New laws made it possible for the D.A. to force him to pay,” Goldberg said.

Stringer, the mother of four, said the staff of the Palmdale support office helped her finally collect the money.

Garcetti--flanked by charts showing established paternity and money collected--touted the recent improvements in collection for his office.

“In the first quarter of 1992, before I took office, the Bureau of Family Support collected a total of $28 million,” he said. “Now, in 1998, my office collected more than $25 million in the month of March alone.”

Family Support Operations plans to add 152 family support officers and 14 supervisors in the coming year.

Garcetti said his goal is for Los Angeles County to have the most efficient child support collection agency in the nation.