The Washington Policy Center notes that Sound Transit has been busted for unlawfully spending tax dollars.
State Auditor Brian Sonntag issued an audit report this week which concluded that Sound Transit made unlawful contributions to non-profit advocacy groups. The audit was prompted by a research study written by the WPC's Michael Ennis and also reported by KIRO.
Ennis emailed me to add:
One thing to point out that we didn't highlight in the press release (though the KIRO story did), is this is the second time the SAO found ST breaking the law on the same issue. While the audit process is valuable, there are limitations. The auditor does not have (nor do they probably want) enforcement authority. And the AG's office is the state's attorney, not the people's attorney.Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at January 29, 2009 11:50 AM | Email ThisThis shows a flaw in our system that allows agencies to continue breaking the law if they disagree with the auditor's findings. One solution is to move to an inspector general, instead of an attorney general. I don't know if that would work here but it's what other state's have done.
http://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/government/about_inspector_general.html
IOKIYAD!
Posted by: ewaggin on January 29, 2009 12:36 PMIf you don't have people of integrity in government, then you don't have integrity in government. And if you don't have integrity in government, then what do you really have?
Posted by: Reality on January 29, 2009 01:10 PMHe's the only Democrat in recent memory that I'd enthusiastically support if he were to run for Governor.
Posted by: cliff on January 29, 2009 02:18 PMWe have considerable competition from our southern neighbor, with the mayor of their largest city a self-admitted sodomite pedophile.
Posted by: Saltherring on January 29, 2009 04:59 PMIt's at this point I have to ask if we are talking about the beer or the Mayor... ;)
Posted by: Rick D. on January 29, 2009 07:00 PMAs for Mr. Sims, he is just another Washington elite govt official with no roots in reality. Just a pipe dream about a legacy, no accountability and just enough tax payer dollars to do it.
Posted by: BrassTax on January 29, 2009 08:12 PMDoes $8,050 mean that we should sit in deadlocked traffic with no mass transit alternative? Does $8,050 disqualify the utility of 40 miles of light rail?
Of course not. ST should learn their lesson and kudos to the auditing department for catching this. But we don't make major transportation decisions based on $8,050. We apparently do it by voting. ST2: 57% to 43%. Wow.
How much money do you think this audit cost to conduct?
Posted by: John Jensen on January 29, 2009 11:32 PMFunny how Mike Ennis translates the State Auditor's own words (that it was not within Sound Transit's authority to engage in these sponsorships) into "Sound Transit is breaking the law."
Ennis should stick to his windmill-tilting (and cow-tipping) on the Enumclaw City Council.
Shark's "solution" to regional transportation over the years has always been silly and simplistic: "work where you live." This one time, I'll grant a waiver for Mike Ennis. The guy commutes in to Seattle each day from the shadow of Mt. Rainier. He spends 4 hours clogging our roads and freeways so he can execute these petty and useless exercises in futility.
I suppose John Jensen is right. The bigger the margin of failure, the more obsessed and dedicated the anti-transit jihad becomes. They would look a lot less silly if the weapon of choice wasn't a worn-out pea shooter.
Right, and we don't let an act in violation of Article 8, Section 7 of the Constitution of the State of Washington:
Credit Not to Be Loaned. not only be ignored, but these jackasses at ST were told by the auditor's office to stop the practice and were still ignored. Graft and corruption happens in baby steps, so the dollar amount is moot...Got Blago?!
Would this 'program' be in English?
Of course not. ST should learn their lesson and kudos to the auditing department for catching this. But we don't make major transportation decisions based on $8,050. We apparently do it by voting. ST2: 57% to 43%. Wow.
How much money do you think this audit cost to conduct?"
If you read the original post at the Washington Policy center's website, you'll see that their original concern was not only about these sponsorships, but also about memberships costing over $150,000. From what I hear the "audit" was conducted in conjunction with their annual audit, so the cost was no more than it has been in past years.
What people should be really pissed off about is that ST pays over $300,000 for a CPA firm to audit its financials instead of having Sonntag do the EXACT SAME WORK for WAY LESS money.
Posted by: Michael H on February 1, 2009 12:24 PM