Agreed. Both parties are essentially the same. They just have different methods to control the same population. Tax more to spend more, cut taxes and run up debt... Blame the other party for the same result.
Agreed. Both parties are essentially the same. They just have different methods to control the same population. Tax more to spend more, cut taxes and run up debt... Blame the other party for the same result.
If that pisses you off get a load of this. Also a web search for Oklahoma school embezzlement seems to show this story might just be the tip of an iceberg.
http://newsok.com/article/5461537
And sadly it seems few realize it or care how bad it really is as long as "they get theirs".
I have no doubt that abuses, intentional and unintentional mishandling, and mistakes in a maze of state mandated and often confusing rules for handling funds occur. This article is an opinion piece more than two years old that reads like what it is.
Schools. One thing that really gets my goat is the Activity Buses. Man, some discrict have some sweet rides. $500k plus bus for the kids to ride around the state in. But not only the cost of the bus, but the maintenance. Loosing proposition all the way around. My daughter's school cheer group would rent a bus (Red Carpet) for far away activities with funds from the booster group. $2400 per 4 day weekend outing was the going rate. That included everything, fuel & driver. If the schools used them 25 weeks a year, $60k. Probably less than the depreciation on the in house units, much less paying the driver and fuel, not including maintenance.
City. The other day I saw a City of Norman flat bed wrecker with a pickup on it. WTF. I guess Norman's vehicle maintenance is so busy they need their own $100,000 wrecker. If $150 per tow from A&A was breaking the bank, maybe they need a new maintenance director.
City. Saw an city of OKC 2,000 gallon fuel delivery truck. Really??? OKC didn't get in the bid for delivery included? At 2,000 gallons per trip and the number of vehicles being fueled, that's one busy dude. Makes me wonder why I see C of OKC trucks at the convenience stores all the time if their fuel is delivered to the yard, by their own truck.
City. The other day I saw a City of Norman flat bed wrecker with a pickup on it. WTF. I guess Norman's vehicle maintenance is so busy they need their own $100,000 wrecker. If $150 per tow from A&A was breaking the bank, maybe they need a new maintenance director.
City. Saw an city of OKC 2,000 gallon fuel delivery truck. Really??? OKC didn't get in the bid for delivery included? At 2,000 gallons per trip and the number of vehicles being fueled, that's one busy dude. Makes me wonder why I see C of OKC trucks at the convenience stores all the time if their fuel is delivered to the yard, by their own truck.
"Getting theirs", in my opinion is one of the key issues that prevents fiscal reform from occurring. It appears many elected officials talk about fiscal responsibility while voting for their own interest. Earmarks for agencies and projects that come from taxes never intended to support them and more than half of state money NOT under the control of the legislature leaves a lot of non elected agency officials unaccountable to the legislature or the people.
A story told to me by a county commissioner a couple of months ago. His crew repaired a bridge in his district for around $70k (as best I remember). Another bridge repair almost identical the one he repaired was handled by state transportation at a cost nearly 10x.
If I had all the answers I'd lay them out here, but I do believe that a overhauling of our state constitution and the rules for handling the funds at the state level needs to change.
I can't speak for every school district, but in some districts "activity" buses are funded the same way activity facilities are funded. District bonds approved by voters in that district.
Like the current US budget. https://www.politico.com/story/2018...-bees-the-surprises-in-the-budget-bill-330436
[QUOTE="
If I had all the answers I'd lay them out here, but I do believe that a overhauling of our state constitution and the rules for handling the funds at the state level needs to change.[/QUOTE]
The penalties for officials needs to be greater than the value of the funds taken, x10 may do it. Taken $100k of public funds owe restitution of $1million.
Opinion piece or not the fact is those and others have happened with little reporting on it(or the FBI raids) and none of them seem like mistakes. Also there's no indication that rules have changed to prevent such in the future. The recent audit issues at the Health Dept. ($30Mil. misspent) and at the Tourism Dept.(guns and ammo missing along with manufacture of illegal weapons) seems to clearly indicate the problem remains.
Agencies and their officials do seem to be a major issue being ignored, also seems there is little accountability.
Similar threads
