Ending the embezzlement of public funds is a "no-brainer".

The Journal reports this morning, link, that a bookkeeper
in a very small school district, managed to steal $300K in
eleven months from two of eleven accounts she has managed.
State Auditor Hector Balderas says he has his best auditor
on the case. The auditor will be looking at nine other accounts,
and 10 other years.

Balderas' guy will find a lot more missing money.
He will probably find all of the missing money.
(Apparently, the embezzlement was not all that clever;
checks were deposited directly into accounts under her own name.)

You have to ask yourself;
if this bookkeeper knew that at the end of every fiscal year,
forensic accountants would look at her books very carefully,
looking specifically her embezzlement,
would she have embezzled the money anyway?

The logical answer is, no.

So all we have to do, to end the embezzlement of public funds,
is to have the books forensically audited every year.

We can make it impossibly difficult to hide embezzlement.

So why don't we?



In a recent interview, State Auditor Balderas said flat out,
his office underfunded and understaffed. The legislature's
failure to support the Auditor's Office, has made it impossibly
difficult for him to make it impossibly difficult to embezzle public money.

If he had the support he needs, he could save taxpayers
hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

Do the math;
Balderas + adequate funding = no more embezzlement.





Worth noting;

There is only one candidate
for statewide office, who
is on the record, in support of
giving the Auditors Office
the independence and
financial support it needs
to stop the rip off.

Sheriff Greg Solano, link.




photos Mark Bralley