IS IT TRUE October 9, 2012 (Quips and Comments about AuditGATE)
IS IT TRUE last night’s City Council meeting was the first in many years that had the kind of INTERVENTION language that can lead to positive change?…that people and cities have to come to the realization that they are face down in the gutter before a resolve to improve can really solidify?…that the City County Observer hopes that last night’s City Council meeting serves as a turning point for the City of Evansville that seems to many to be one scandal away from a Detroit style Kwame Kirkpatrick meltdown?…there were some very revealing statements made last night by a plethora of people that were not rehearsed that say much about where we are as a city?…here are some that we have chosen but we invite our commenters to add to the list?
“Evansville has no grant managerâ€
“Not having an unqualified audit opinion is troubleâ€;
“the SBOA Auditor was shocked and amazed that paralleling was not incorporatedâ€
“that earns an F in IT 101â€
“the Winnecke Administration was cited for not being forthcomingâ€
“Fraud has not yet been alleged by anyoneâ€
All from John Friend
“It was caught last year and it is important to note this is resolved†City Attorney Ted Ziemer (architect of the Earthcare Energy Contract)
“This is not completely resolved yet†Controller Russ Lloyd (30 seconds after Ziemer said it was resolved)
“the adjustments appear to have changed the cash balance by about $30 Million†John Friend
“Just when should the City Council have been notified†Councilman Conor O’Daniel
“The Council should know when the books are not balanced†Conor O’Daniel
“Are you telling us that we passed the 2012 budget without balanced books?†Council President Connie Robinson
“the contract looks like you could sell us a person with a GED and no experience for $90,000 per year†Connie Robinson
“Overdrawn accounts have been standard practice at the City of Evansville for years†Controller Russ Lloyd Jr.
“there may be a covenant violation with the Arena Bonds†John Friend
“Let’s finish this up†Russ Lloyd Jr. (repeated at least a dozen times)
“will there ever be a decent readable budget?†Dr. Dan Adams
“if we pay for an outside audit the SBOA may call the Attorney General on us†Russ Lloyd Jr.
“an outside audit will be about $250,000 and Russ Lloyd will have to pay for it†John Friend
“I was not the Controller when this started†Russ Lloyd
“GARBAGE IN = GARBAGE OUT†Steve Titzer, CPA
“the old system with Excel to reconcile worked fine†former Controller Jenny Collins
“switching over without paralleling turned out to be a big mistake†Jenny Collins
“we always thought we were two weeks from being finished†Jenny Collins
“the accountants didn’t understand IT and the IT folks didn’t understand accounting†Steve Titzer & Jenny Collins
“the Munis system is working in Fort Wayne and Plainfield†Russ Lloyd Jr.
“the books at SMG were so bad we could not audit them†Steve Titzer
“the drug purchase money has been comingled for over 15 years†Russ Lloyd Jr.
“the balances were still changing for December 2011 in July 2012†Russ Lloyd Jr.
“Parking loses money so an account was never set up†Russ Lloyd Jr.
“the bottom line is the Weinzapfel Administration dumped a bucket of poop on the Winnecke Administration†Dr. Dan Adams
“You knew what to do and you chose not to do it†Councilwoman Stephanie Riley (directed at jenny Collins)
“We have a contractual issue here†Councilman Jonathan Weaver
“we are not a middle person in any of this stuff†Mark Rolley
“All you have to provide according to this contract is a warm body†Connie Robinson (directed at Mark Rolley)
“Who picked Tyler†several City Council members
“Matt Arvay, myself and MRC person, and the department heads†Jenny Collins (response to Who picked Tyler)
“we saved the City of Evansville $100,000 or more on an overkill server they wanted to buy†Mark Rolley
“I don’t remember if it was an RFP or an RFQ†Jenny Collins
“transferring money from the right pocket to the left pocket and back again runs up the transaction numbers†Umbaugh guy named Dan
“collapsing 8 funds into 2 destroyed the audit trail†John Friend
“most peer cities use CAFR reporting†Dan from Umbaugh
“CAFR was used in Evansville until 2003 when Russ Lloyd Jr. left office of Mayor†John Friend
“Evansville’s financial records do not even resemble those of peer cities†Dan from Umbaugh
And our favorite: “why is there nothing in the Courier and Press about this fiasco†that was posted in many comments and forms this morning.
IS IT TRUE those are the quotes and paraphrases we were able to capture from last night?…this is the voice of a City crying out for leadership and vision after a period in a Sea of Idiocy?…we truly hope that tonight is the night that starts the long climb out of this 60 year hole of incompetence and mediocrity that has been dug by Evansville’s public officials and sanctioned by the people of Evansville by continuing to vote them into office?
Love it. I fell out of my seat laughing so hard! Thank you to whoever compiled this list
The money has dried up so the crooks,cronies and conmen say opps lets blame it on IT!!!
ROTF LMAO
John Friend and Dan Adams each issued warnings last night. Each man I am sure is familiar with this warning:
“He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.”
Their warning?: that river boat gambling revenue makes a poor foundation on which to build a government.
Myself and many others tried in vain to send this message to the voters of Vanderburgh county and the City of Evansville when the river boat gambling referendum was on the ballot.
They have made the mistake of tying long term debt, the arena bonds, to a revenue source of a transitory nature, river boat gambling.
This has placed our “house” on a very poor foundation. I am encouraged that Friend and Adams recognize the peril. This challenge will have to be met head on, as plans need to be formed now.
How many times must we “relearn” truths that we once understood?
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We live in an era of ignoring historic economic lessons, and instead depending on strings of hedge fund betting. Just ask Mourdock.
Taken down by Editor for unacceptable remark.
OMG, you have to read this: http://www.courierpress.com/photos/galleries/2011/sep/22/class-2011-20-under-40/23613/
Always thought this 20 under 40 thing was nothing more than a popularity contest by the C&P. All style, no substance. Thanks for the link BigPappa.
You are spot on. It’s nothing but government insider kiss-ups. It’s also nothing but a thank you to the sponsors of the program by picking their workers.
My goodness! These lines are quoted out of context for what reason? You quoted the words that were said, but you lost the meaning that was intended by removing the context. I hope this list is just for fun and a reader who missed the meeting and is only seeing these quotes doesn’t make a bunch of false assumptions. Some of the quotes you have listed were clearly jokes. “I was not the controller when this started,” said by Russ Lloyd was clearly a light hearted response to John Friend pointing out that the state had the power to put the cost of hiring an outside auditor on the sitting controller. Everyone on council laughed. If you missed the meeting live, watch the rerun before using the above list as any sort of guide to what took place.
I’m hoping this is just a list for fun.
It was meant to be funny.
OK, I thought so. Thanks for clarifying. I must be taking life too serious today. My apologies.
Quotes are quotes, fun or not.
This city is like a very old dog: It needs to be put down and euthanized. We ought to tear up the city charter and Fed Ex it to the Secretary of State.
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