Last night Kenneth Oakes, Internal Auditor, finally got to give his report. He had already given his report on the Code Department on May 23, 2013 and there was a big shake-up because of it. He says things are better there now. He didn't go into a lot of details in his report last night that covered many areas but he did say that he was surprised that things were not as bad as he had feared.
The City provides 160 cell phones which equates to about 40% of staff. They get to use the phones, no questions are asked. Individual phone detail is not provided by Sprint due to the amount of paper possibly totaling 400 pages. A summary of usage is billed and then reviewed by the IT Department for payment.
CBS 12 News was in the parking lot as I arrived having already conducted its interview. They had interviewed our Internal Auditor and Mike Bornstein, city manager, after they found out that tracking taxpayer money in Lake Worth for recent years is difficult, in some cases impossible. Their story focused on one aspect where money and abuse has occurred, cell phones, but also touched on city vehicle abuse. Employees were using their phones to make personal calls out of state after hours or during the day and using city owned vehicles for personal use. Invoices are not generally reviewed by department heads.Click here for story and video
Mr. Oakes discovered that cell phone use was being abused by many employees present and past with no way of knowing how much money was lost. Lake Worth City Manager Michael Bornstein says the city didn't even have an internal auditor for 6 years, and he expected to find areas needing serious improvement. It may seem like six years but our last internal auditor's contract was not renewed for the 2010 Budget year and Mr. Oakes has been here since January 8, 2013. This administration likes to play the blame game. Mike Bornstein has been here since April 2012, long enough to understand what's going on in his departments. Doesn't the buck stop with him?
This is just another reason why residents worry about giving them $63.5 million for a bond.
That report last night was so sanitized for the public that it was the culinary equivalent of a tepid bowl of tap water.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I am concerned, there is a conflict of interest when you are an employee with benefits vs. an independent contractor reporting to the commission. This position should be independent and NOT an employee.
ReplyDeleteAlfred Hitchcock lives !
ReplyDelete