County Auditor and Council President Should Step Aside

The recent events leading up to last weeks revelation from crisis to no crisis is just another blatant example of why you elect people for their abilities not their likeability. Since Sandy Newmann took office in January of 2005 the Auditor’s office has been adrift in a sea of complexity that has overwhelmed not only her but her entire staff. Since the departure of Barb Clark the department has been awash with a lack of experience and wrought with nepotism. This combination has resulted in ongoing internal strife and the current County’s budget woes. Misinformation flows in and out of this office like the tides and leaves everyone involved with a feeling of unrest. Last year Newmann didn’t have a clue what she had gotten herself into when she went about her duties like blind person in a sand storm. The Democrat controlled Council took advantage of her naivety and pushed through a number of excessive spending measures that caused the Auditor to dip into the County’s cash reserves to balance the budget. Newmann went along with virtually every request in an effort to tow the party’s line.

This year the budget process ramped up again only this time the Auditor’s office posted a gloom and doom picture going from boom to bust in just under a year. She insisted the Council must find a way to slash existing budgets by as much as a million dollars if 2007's budget was going to be balanced. The Council President with full faith and confidence in the Auditor’s capabilities laid down the gauntlet to the County department heads to cut their 2006 budgets by 5%. By this time the ship of fools is so far adrift that able minds like Council members Hawk and West were satisfied with letting them aimlessly float about throughout the process waiting for the right time to drop anchor. This past week they did just that by exposing the deficiencies in Newmann’s funding calculations, which turned a million dollar deficit into a nearly balanced budget. Quite a turnabout wouldn’t you say? Newmann’s miscalculations caused the funding streams to be underestimated by almost $750,000, then she returned to an familier trick by buoying the remaining shortfall with cash reserves.

This on again off again management by crisis is typical of individuals that lack the knowledge and expertise to fulfill their duties, elected or otherwise. The credibility of the data that is being used to adopt the upcoming 2007 budget is absolutely useless. The County Council should call for a complete and thorough financial audit of the Auditor’s office to find out exactly what condition the County’s finances are really in. If they adopt the budget with inadequate or inaccurate data they are breaching their elected oath to every citizen in Monroe County. Council President Sophia Travis acting as captain of the ship of fools showed her lack of experience in these matters by setting the course for the exercise in futility that she put the entire County staff through in the budget workshops. Her lack of understanding of the County’s funding and financial resources has caused serious damage as her ship continues to take on water. She is sinking amid a myriad of mistakes and misdeeds and has attempted to deflect blame and make lame antic dotes that somehow excuse her lack of knowledge. She made the statement that this was a good exercise to have gone through because it caused all of the department heads to turn in tighter budgets. In other words it’s all right to lie and mislead not only your staff but also the citizens of Monroe County as long as you can justify it? Elected officials should be held accountable for their actions and I grow tired of people in roles of leadership attempting to divert blame to their subordinates for their own shortcomings. They took the office, they took the oath and it is high time some of them take responsibility.

Some of the statements that have come from the recent budget process simply defy all common sense and logic. One of these was Mark Stoops wanting to spend down the cash reserves to have only enough in reserve for one month. Even a neophyte in government funding understands that you should never let your reserves fall below three months for the simple fact that things regularly happen that cause funding to be held up. When this happens the cash reserves are what the County depends on to make up the shortfall to make payroll and pay their obligations. Another illogical statement was made by Sophia Travis which was “you’ll just have to find a way to cut 5% from each of your budgets” as if it were as easy as stroll down Kirkwood. Her total lack of understanding that people were going to loose their jobs because of her edict defies comprehension. Time and time again department heads outlined the same outcome during the work sessions and all to the same result, a blank stare and antic dotes. Like her comment “It ain’t over until the fat lady sings”. These actions and comments are an embarrassment and should be followed with nothing less than their resignations.