Leadership Counts

One reason many elected officials are caught with their hands out is they don't think they can be convicted. They have learned to solicit bribes under the guise of campaign contributions and they simply feel it is okay.

In the same way we have for many years had a serious problem with some people in our education system here in Bertie County. They don't think they will be prosecuted and they feel it is okay for them to receive money that is supposed to be reimbursement for expenses. The recent Walker Audit, conducted on behalf of the Board of Education, is truly interesting reading and has some great examples of this attitude.

Some highlights of this audit are as follows:

1. A frequent pattern of simply not providing receipts for claimed reimbursements, thereby permitting employees to easily defraud the school system if they chose.
2. Numerous situations of blatantly submitting vouchers for meals when the meal was provided as a part of a conference. The reimbursement was still paid. (Notwithstanding the constant audit report claim that no fraud was found, how can this practice not constitute fraud?)
3. Having superiors pay on credit cards for the expenses of subordinates. No reimbursement was required and no documentation provided.
4. Purchase of gifts hypothetically for central administration staff and conference attendees at taxpayer expense. The recipients were not identified so there is no way to assure the gifts were even for school personnel.
5. Charging for Universal Studios visit on school credit cards.
6. Charging for phone service on credit card to avoid getting central office phones cut off after an employee failed to pay the bill for several months. (Was the employee fired? How much did the taxpayer suffer in late charges and interest on the credit card due to this incompetence?)
7. Executive retreat with total charges of around $15,000, with numerous spouses in attendance, and no indication that school system was reimbursed.
8. Taxpayers were constantly charged for late fees and penalties due to employees failing to pay credit card bills on time.
9. Purchase of items that required Purchase Orders on school credit cards, improperly avoiding the PO process. Therefore there is no record to determine whether these were appropriate or not.
10. Meals far beyond per diem allowance.
11. Gas charges where school car was not identified making it impossible to determine whether the charge was valid.
12. Violation of purchasing process using overpriced vendors.
13. Meals frequently charged within driving distance that would not make it business travel and for which there would not normally be a legal way to claim reimbursement. (Over $31,000 was charged during the two year audit period.)
14. Charging for alcohol.
15. Charging for personal membership renewals.
16. Excessive use of taxis under questionable circumstances.
17. Charging for tickets.
18 Charging for entertainment.
19. Purchase of office decoration items.
20. Staying extra days at conferences at school expense for convenience of employee.
21. 8 conferences in a 14 month period for a technical employee who could have easily obtained training over the Internet.
22. Charging for Christmas gifts without reimbursement.
23. Excessive mileage that was never challenged.
24. Two people noted in the audit report for actions that appear to be violations of their fiduciary duties were John Smith and Earnest Howard. (During this same period at least one of these employees was rewarded with huge bonuses for performing his duties in an outstanding fashion. Isn't adhering to fiduciary duties the most critical of management duties?)

It was noted in the audit report that this was simply a cursory examination and that a detailed and exhaustive study could prove to be quite expensive. I am truly concerned that the numerous actions documented here could easily be ignored if the tax payers of this county do not pay close attention to what is happening. This is simply the first of an ongoing series of reminders to the Bertie County tax payers that the SBI is conducting a criminal investigation of these matters. To the extent possible we must assure the truth is exposed. Neither the past leadership of the school system or the conduct of our criminal justice system provides reason for complacency and confidence that justice will prevail if we do not pay close attention to this investigation.

We also need to assure current leadership does not allow this to happen again.