(This posting is Part 1 of 10 regarding the IRB Financial Crisis. Be sure to visit IRBeHEARD over the next 10 days for our daily posting as more information becomes available.)
Some of the most important things I learned about myself, I learned when I was broke. As I look back, the more “bail” money I had in the bank, the stupider I got. During the start-up years of my business, I barely slept nights worrying about making the granddaddy of all mistakes, which would have effectively put me out of business before the ink on the incorporation papers was dry; “screw up” funds were simply not available.
Will being nearly broke have the same effect on our local government in IRB?
What has the current commission done since becoming the FIRST and ONLY commission to be blessed/cursed with the good/bad fortune of learning that unauthorized loans from our general operating tax monies have been falsely inflating the balances in our Sewer and Solid Waste Funds--for years?
CPA HIRED WITHOUT GENERAL PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE
Concerned commission meeting attendees were not aware that CPA Robert Garner was “on board,” until his findings were made public on June 24th. Many citizens just thought their "on the record" comments and the entire issue were being ignored. Since no “Garner funds” were appropriated at budget time, did the commission approve a budget amendment for this expense? Were they required to? Consider please that this commission approved a $1,500 “Protect the Sea Oat” sign budget amendment earlier this year. And, allegedly, Mr. Garner’s bill exceeds the sea oat sign amount, which begs the question: Were these two unbudgeted items treated alike in terms of commission approvals? If not, why?
Some of the most important things I learned about myself, I learned when I was broke. As I look back, the more “bail” money I had in the bank, the stupider I got. During the start-up years of my business, I barely slept nights worrying about making the granddaddy of all mistakes, which would have effectively put me out of business before the ink on the incorporation papers was dry; “screw up” funds were simply not available.
Will being nearly broke have the same effect on our local government in IRB?
What has the current commission done since becoming the FIRST and ONLY commission to be blessed/cursed with the good/bad fortune of learning that unauthorized loans from our general operating tax monies have been falsely inflating the balances in our Sewer and Solid Waste Funds--for years?
CPA HIRED WITHOUT GENERAL PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE
Concerned commission meeting attendees were not aware that CPA Robert Garner was “on board,” until his findings were made public on June 24th. Many citizens just thought their "on the record" comments and the entire issue were being ignored. Since no “Garner funds” were appropriated at budget time, did the commission approve a budget amendment for this expense? Were they required to? Consider please that this commission approved a $1,500 “Protect the Sea Oat” sign budget amendment earlier this year. And, allegedly, Mr. Garner’s bill exceeds the sea oat sign amount, which begs the question: Were these two unbudgeted items treated alike in terms of commission approvals? If not, why?
Since Garner’s report in in direct conflict with reports by all previous auditors, etc., is anyone aware of his qualifications? What if he’s wrong (one can always hope!) and the cast of a thousand accountants who noodled before him are correct? While it was probably a wise move to hire Mr. Garner, the secrecy with which he was engaged is more than a little troubling. Why all the secrecy? Or, am I just misinformed again?
Nancy Obarski
Beach Trail/IRB
(IRBeHEARD will report the answers to some of the questions above, once the documents from a pending public records request are received, so STAY TUNED.)
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