Mismanaged funds big news

The loss of $30,000 on a test sample of four cases of surety bond negligent collections discovered on the recent Spokane County audit appears to be the tip of the iceberg on more county-squandered revenue. Judge Ellen Kalama Clark’s lame excuse that “there is no easy way electronically to do this” is pathetic.

Given the amount of money potentially at stake, you find a way to manage this. If these were her personal funds, it certainly would not be tolerated. Then the audit reveals failure to collect $170,000 in banking fees and $48 million in cash funds held in a non-interest-bearing checking account!

There apparently are no systems or oversight in place to effectively manage the county finances.

One can assume that this one-year sample audit is a strong indication that this financial management apathy has gone on for years. Will anyone be held accountable for this abysmal failure? Not if you’re a public employee or union protected.

Considering the financial implications of this audit, I am surprised this was not front page news worthy.

Alan Budzier

Mead