IS IT TRUE September 28, 2012

12

The Mole #??

IS IT TRUE September 28, 2012

IS IT TRUE that Evansville survived as a community for nearly 200 years without the services of a Chief Financial Officer specifically dedicated to the Water & Sewer Utility?…in 2011 the Weinzapfel Administration recommended to the Utility Board that a CFO position be created to for the Water & Sewer Utility?…in a meeting of the Utility board in the summer of 2011 the position of CFO of the Water and Sewer Utility was approved by the Utility Board and subsequently included in the 2012 budget?…that it may just be unrelated circumstances but that the 2011 audit of the City of Evansville by the Indiana State Board of Accounts for the first time that any of our contacts can recall will be dealing with a DISCLAIMER OF OPINION associated with the findings?…in lay terms this means that this SBOA’s way of nicely saying that the financial records of the City of Evansville are in such an incomplete state of disarray that they cannot certify the 2011 audit?…this is due to one of the most amateurish mistakes that is even possible to make as the use of the “old” accounting system was ceased before getting the “new” one up and running?…that now the City of Evansville looks like that fool on the commercials that shows up to an IRS audit with a shoe box full of receipts?

IS IT TRUE the expectation is that the SBOA will post the 2011 City of Evansville audit on their website either late today (Friday) or Monday?…that the City County Observer will be checking on this hourly and will post either the audit or a link depending on the size of the file as soon as possible?…after the release of the 2011 City of Evansville audit it is time for the Evansville City Council to hold open public hearings so the taxpayers of Evansville can learn just how such a misguided decision came to be?…the CCO expects a circus of finger pointing from everyone even remotely attached to the MIPS project and the decision to shut down the old system before bringing it up?…in many cases it is not productive to brand a scarlet letter of failure onto anyone and we suspect that this was not a singular decision?…even if it was a singular decision there had to be an atmosphere of failure to oversee in the Weinzapfel Administration for this to have happened?…the bodies of oversight that should have been in place and protecting the taxpayers of Evansville from such a gross and basic error include the 2011 City Controller and staff, the Office of the Mayor, the Water and Sewer Board, and the Evansville City Council?…the collective performance under this group of governing bodies performed at the collective level of NERO FIDDLING WHILE ROME BURNED?…the real questions are what kind of an atmosphere enabled such gross oversight to happen, how did it get this way, and finally were any of the people who were involved covered by the City of Evansville’s Directors and Officers insurance policy that probably covers ERRORS AND OMISSIONS?

IS IT TRUE that this MIPSGATE fiasco has cost the City of Evansville money and may continue to well into the future if our bond rating is downgraded and our interest rates are raised?…such losses if they can be directly attributed to Directors or Officers may be at least partially recoverable by making an insurance claim?…that reproduction of this audit should that become necessary by SBOA mandate has been estimated by a qualified individual to be in the range of $250,000?

IS IT TRUE that Evansville City Councilman John Friend, CPA has been howling like a smashed cat for the City of Evansville to allocate funds to audit the IT Department?…promises have been made and promises have been broken but at this point good oversight of the IT Department is not in place?…it is alleged that customer service software that cost about $1 million, another software system called canapy at about $1.250 million and now, seemingly Munis at $1,030,000 plus the 200k per year on maintenance or so are failing to perform?…that is a total of $3.28 Million plus $200,000 per year that the City of Evansville is paying for but not getting services from?…it is time to get to the bottom of this with a public hearing that exposes the atmosphere and the people who have done this to our taxpayers and let the consequences be just?

IS IT TRUE that all of this is happening in a City that squandered $200,000 on a loan to an un-vetted company, built a $127 Million arena without a referendum *SNEGAL), rushed people out of the McCurdy to see start to decay from neglect, is on the verge of demolishing a building of considerable value, can mow or pick up drug addict needles from parks but wants to build new parks, and is about to learn according to a well placed mole that the Riverboat Money for 2012 will be lower than it has been by nearly $400,000?…that to any competent outside observer the City of Evansville looks like it is certifiably insane in the management of its financial matters and has been for a long long time?

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

12 COMMENTS

  1. You wait and see. The short dude that sleeps in his suit will blame the State Board of Accounts for the poor audit results. He should blame the prior controller and Mayor but for some reason this administration is protecting them.

    The certified bean counter has yet to reconcile anything in 2011 and it’s the end of September 2012! How in the world can they recommend salary increases and set a 2013 budget when the last good financial figures that they have were for 2010? Yet another example of them not listening to the professionals because I am sure that DLGF told them to get their stuff in order before they try to budget for 2013.

    • My State Board contact told me that less than 1 percent of audits get a disclaimer. She also said that the overall pay in the City Controller’s Office is probably one of the best governmental offices in the area. Reminds me of the old Dire Straits song: Now look at them yo-yo’s that’s the way you do it…Get your money for nothing

      • Maybe old rumpelbeancounter can spin straw to gold and reconcile the budgets.

        If the city accounts have not been reconciled through September of this year, more audit findings and a “Disclaimer of Opinion” will surely follow for FY 2012.

        Typically, when this type of malfeasance occurs, the CFO resigns or is terminated posthaste.

        The City Council should demand an independent audit.

    • Last night the “certified bean counter” was overheard commenting that “things aren’t as bad as they are being reported”. By whose estimation?

      Somebody must be holding a big, spiked club over his head.

      To paraphrase Paul Harvey, “Where’s the rest of the story?” …We are waiting with bated breath for the dirty details and an audit of Weinzapfel’s finances.

      • Not a big deal? They are at the bottom one percent of all audits, and they haven’t reconciled in 21 months. If this was the corporate world, someone would be going to jail!

        It’s time for the certified buffoon to admin defeat and clean house!

        • It is high noon on Friday in Indianapolis and the SBOA has not posted the City of Evansville 2011 Audit yet. Monday is October 1st.

          • rumpelbeancounter must still be begging the Governor for “two more weeks” to reconcile 21 months but “things aren’t as bad as what is being reported”. Hopefully the Governor doesn’t fall for this bull and the audit report is released soon

  5. Do you think that Weinzapfel creating the position of CFO at the Water Dept., and then putting his hand pick person in that office, hand anything to do with what he had hoped would be a lucrative contract signed between the city water dept. and Johnson Controls Inc. for WiFi and digital water meters, which he threw on the IURC’s desk just a month or so before leaving office? Did he not go to work for the firm that would have gotten the bond business on this contract if it had gone theough?

    ____

Comments are closed.