Tomorrow the McHenry County Board will have another opportunity to demonstrate whether they believe in transparency or not.
An item on the agenda reads like this:
“Resolution to Waive a Freedom of Information Act Exemption Relating to an Internal Audit of a Senior Services Grant to the Nunda Township Road District”
On April 22nd, Palmer wrote Finance and Audit Committee members,
“Due to the fact that I do not have the staff time to devote to audits of entities outside of the County’s twenty-eight departments, I will no longer perform these types of audits, unless the circumstances warrant it.
“I have already communicated this to others, including Finance and Audit Committee Chair Mary McCann, Deputy County Administrator John Labaj, and County Board Chairwoman Tina Hill.Pam Palmer
“Considerable time was spent on the four internal audits performed on Senior Services Grant sub-recipients; time that could have been spent on internal audits that were a part of the FY2013 Internal Audit Plan.
“Once again, I have worked hard to keep politics out of the office and do not want to spend substantial time again in FY2014 performing Senior Service Grant sub-recipient audits.
“I am of the opinion, however, that these audits or reviews of entities receiving County funding do need to be performed in order to ensure that the funds are being managed properly.
“This was John Labaj’s intent when he originally asked us to perform periodic audits of entities receiving Senior Services Grant Funds.”
= = = = =
Why audits are kept secret mystifies me.
I’ll share the roll call with you.
The Liberties of a People Will Never Be Secure, When the Transactions of Their Government May Be Concealed From Them…”
~ Patrick Henry, 1788 ~
Any financial custodian I have ever known, or worked with, always welcomed the opportunity to demonstrate both their competence and their honesty. They did this by boasting of an “open-book” policy and welcoming any inquiries into them…
In contrast, I believe the tactics demonstrated here suggest something quite different… Dishonesty? Incompetence??
What are we to assume?
Patrick Henry sure knew what he was talking about.
I assume both, Paul.
I say throw all the criminally negligent out.
Start over with folks like the ones that post on these blogs.
They are surely more learned than anyone holding public office nowadays.
“…I have worked hard to keep politics out of the office and do not want to spend substantial time again in FY2014 performing Senior Service Grant sub-recipient audits…”
Who, exactly, is bringing politics into it Pam?