Councilor Ken Sanchez proposes forensic audit of city government.

Blogger Monahan reports this morning, link,

City Council President Ken Sanchez
"says he will seek to have the city hire
a forensic auditor to go department by
department to (expose incompetence,
corruption, and the practices that enable them).

With no signs that city cash coffers are
about to overflow anytime soon, it's an
idea the Berry administration should
find easy to sign on to."

If only.

Mayor Richard Berry cannot simply go to city Directors and ask them if their departments are as lean and as efficient as they could be. To do so, would create a conflict of interest; Directors would be asked essentially, to evaluate themselves. Creating a conflict of interest, creates the appearance of impropriety; why would you ask someone to evaluate themselves?

We need an independent review of government. We need an impartial third party to go into every nook and cranny of government and look for the waste that flows from incompetence and corruption.

Our government is celebrated as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Yet it is in large part, government that is secret from the people; a diametrically opposite situation.

Taxpayers and other stakeholders have no way to exercise any real control over their power and resources that are fundamentally their own. Despite open government laws like the Open Meetings Act, and the Inspection of Public Records Act, it is all but impossible for the average citizen to find the information they need to make informed decisions.

There are two things that can go wrong here. They first is that no independent review will ever take place. It is frankly, the most likely possibility. It has never happened before.

The second thing that can go wrong is that a review will be done, but the results of the review will be kept secret from the public by politicians and public servants who will redact any part of the review which threatens them.

An opportunity presents itself.

Contact Councilor Sanchez and tell him, you support his efforts to commission an independent review of standards, accountability, and business practices in city government. Tell him you want an ethically redacted report surrendered to the public record at the earliest opportunity.

Follow this link to the email addresses of City Councilors.
Contact Ken Sanchez and your own Councilor.

Contact Mayor Richard Berry. link. Tell him as well, that you want an independent review begun at the earliest opportunity.

Do it now, before you forget.




photo Mark Bralley