State Auditor Hector Balderas on; the APS Finance Department Scandal

The situation in the APS Finance Department is so bad
that no one in the leadership of the APS will tell stakeholders
the truth about how bad things really are. Nor will anyone
in the leadership of the APS answer any questions about
how many tax dollars have been wasted or stolen.

What is clear is that, the APS Finance Division has been
operating for years, forever actually,

• without adequate policies and procedures,
• without adequate accountability to polices and procedures, and
• without keeping records; complete and accurate enough to send anyone to prison.

There are so many tax dollars missing due to corruption
and incompetence, that APS Superintendent Winston Brooks
won't even talk about the numbers.

I sent an email to State Auditor Hector Balderas, link
in search of the truth about what is going on with the public
trust and treasure in the hands of the leadership of the APS.

His responses raise to two, the number of politicians who I
think offer any promise at all, of ending the culture of corruption
in state government.

The other is Rep. Janice Arnold Jones. link

Conditions in the APS Finance Division are so bad,
conditions are so far out of control,
that it will be years before the direct involvement and
intervention by the State Auditor's Office ends.

State Auditor Balderas wrote;

I have met with the new administration officials,
including Supt., and several oversight agencies including
PED, and LFC, and some legislators specifically to require
corrective action plan regarding Meyners Report.
This corrective planning and oversight began almost
immediately after release of Meyners Report.
We have been working consistently on addressing all findings.

Secondly, we have committed our SAO auditors to engage
and assist in rebuilding their internal audit division.

We have been conducting meetings for several months
now with APS officials in this regard as well.

(emphasis added)

I have been particularly concerned that the leadership of the APS might try to hide criminal misconduct a la their Police Department scandal, now just days away from the expiration of statutes of limitation, and the consequent get out of jail free cards that that represents for the APS senior administrators involved in the public corruption and criminal conspiracy first exposed publicly in January 2007.

I asked the State Auditor;

If criminal misconduct were unveiled by any of these audits,
how might I be assured that evidence would be turned
over to the appropriate agency of law enforcement?
and by whom?

Auditor Balderas wrote;

We are required by law to refer any possible criminal acts
to proper authorities.

I have implemented the most aggressive referral system
including local, state, and federal enforcement authorities.

And there you have it, the criminal misconduct revealed by the
illumination of the problems in the APS Finance Division
will not be hidden from stakeholders by the leadership of the APS.


However, the greatest scandal in the leadership of the APS
continues unmitigated.

The greatest scandal in the APS is their ongoing cover up
of this, and of every other scandal in the leadership of the APS.

Winston Brooks will not come clean on anything.

He continues to wander around the district with his gaggle
of senior administrators schmoozing stakeholders into a
false confidence in the integrity of the leadership of the APS.

When asked point blank if he intends ever, to come clean
with stakeholders, to finally just tell stakeholders the simple
truth, he refuses.

He refuses, in so far as he refuses to answer. They all do.

If you ask any one of the them if they will sit down and
answer legitimate questions about the public interest,
all you get is a blank stare, if they can summon the courage
to even look you in the eyes.

Which means, no.
No matter how they spin it.