Waste, Fraud and Abuse Archives - Page 620 of 625

What the Government Got You This Year for Christmas (in Pictures)

December 18, 2013/in Budget and Finance, Must Read, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Dr. Rich Swier

This column is courtesy of the Heritage Foundation.

Today, December 18th, the Senate is set to pass the new Murray-Ryan U.S. budget deal in all its spend-tastic glory. Lawmakers have hemmed and hawed about making any cuts to spending, despite countless examples of ridiculous decisions that have wasted taxpayers’ money.

So it’s timely that the office of Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) released its 2013 “Wastebook” yesterday, listing 100 examples it deems wasteful spending this year. In our infographic below, we’ve picked just a few of the highlights of your tax dollars at work.

Exposed: Florida’s “shadow government” – unelected boards and committees

December 12, 2013/in Government Transparency, Must Read, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Dr. Rich Swier

When Floridians go to the voting booth they elect representatives who are expected to make decisions on their behalf.

However, over time the decision making in Florida has been relegated to unelected boards and committees. These boards have grown in number, in membership and are becoming more costly to maintain. Boards and committees have become more powerful, touching every aspect of life in the state. Some have found that board findings/recommendations are rubber stamped by elected officials.

Jackie Schutz, from the office of Governor Rick Scott, told WDW – FL that he and his predecessors, appoint approximately 3,000 members to 750 boards or committees. The exact number of boards/committees and actual count of members is not known by the Governor’s office. The cost to operate these boards is also unknown, as they are funded by various government agencies and bureaus.

Schultz states, “Most appointing authorities are given in each individual statute, such as 471.007 for Board of Professional Engineers.” WDW – FL tried repeatedly to get an accounting of the exact numbers and costs. The information if provided will be included as an update to this column.

A list of some of the boards and committees may be found here. Some of these boards include: Board of Athlete Agents, Barbers’ Board, Board of Cosmetology, Board of Employee Leasing Companies, Public Employees Relations Commission and the Talent Agencies Licensing Board.

Tad Mackie, from Sarasota, FL worries that, “Many of these state level boards are really NGOs and represent special interest groups who are essentially lobbyists appointed by our governor and legislature.”

These boards and committees exist at every level of government. Cities, counties and school boards all have committees and in some cases sub-committees and boards.

Seminole County, FL lists 15 advisory boards. Pinellas County lists 13 advisory boards with 102 members. Lake County has 19 advisory boards. St. Johns County has 20 advisory boards. Using an average of 15 county level advisory boards for Florida’s 67 counties the total number of boards/committees is approximately 1005. Using an average of 5 members per board that equates to approximately 5,025 board members.

The city of Sarasota, FL lists 22 boards including: The Employee Retirement Account Committee (5 members), Nuisance Abatement Board (7 members), Public Art Committee (6 members) and the powerful Planning Board (5 members). Each board requires staff support, creates rules and requires citizens to appear before them before appearing at a City Commission meeting. In some cases a committee will expend allocated funds and report directly to the City Commission.

The Sarasota City Administrator is required to do an annual report on the purpose, membership and cost of each board. The 2012 annual report on boards and committees shows the city in FY 2011/2012 spent approximately $1.1 million supporting its 22 boards/committees (includes salaries, legal fees and operating costs).

Florida has 283 cities, 108 towns and 19 villages. If we use an average cost of $800,000 per municipality the total cost to taxpayers is approximately $32.8 million. Using an average of 15 boards/committees at the municipality level we have about 6,105 boards/committees.

If you add it up the number of boards/committees at the city, county and state levels it amounts to 7,860. Using five members on each board that is about 39,300 appointees. This figure does not include the number of staff needed to support them.

Some fear that these unelected boards and committee have become a “shadow government” in Florida.

NOTE: WDW – FL did not look at Florida’s 67 public school districts, 5 water management districts or other special taxing authorities like those in Pinellas County for the purpose of this column.

Crosspointe: Another failed government computer system

November 4, 2013/in Education, Must Read, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Dr. Rich Swier

In 2006 the Sarasota County School Board entered into a long term agreement with CrossPointe.net (a.k.a. CrossPointe, Inc., CrossPointe LLC) for a comprehensive hardware and software upgrade of the District’s information technology (IT) capabilities. The contract for $12 million was initiated under the leadership of former Superintendent Gary Norris and Sarasota County IT Director Bob Hanson, both of whom were being investigated by the FBI for the purchase of white whiteboards from Promethean. The CrossPointe contract has continued under Superintendent Lori White who at that time was Director of Curriculum and Instruction under Norris.

So what is wrong with upgrading the district’s IT capabilities? Nothing except that a simple Google search of the company CrossPointe and its owner Joan Marie Keebler would have turned up a series of lawsuits dating back to 2001.

These lawsuits included filings for copyright infringement and ownership dispute of CrossPointe, Inc., now known as CrossPointe.net. Due diligence would have warned School Board members and District staff about entering into a contract where the software being purchased may have been “vaporware”. There are indications that the contract in which the School Board entered was to develop the software rather than purchase it because you see the software did not exist at the time.

So the School Board purchased software from a company being sued for software copy write infringement. It appears the now defunct CrossPointe.net actually had no software to sell in the first place. So what did Sarasota property taxpayers get for the $12 million contract with CrossPointe.net?

According to a district spokesman Scott Ferguson, “The implementation of Education Solutions Development/ESD (formerly CrossPointe) is in progress. We are currently working on our Student Information System implementation and are in the final phase of testing this module. In November, we will be going live with four of our district schools – Tuttle, Brookside, Pineview and North Port. During this time, we will be working closely with these schools and fine-tuning the application prior to the full district-wide implementation planned for Spring 2014.” Leona Collesano is the project manager assigned to the implementation of ESD.

The district reports the following are fully operational: Gradebook, Parent Portal, Finance, Human Resources, Payroll and Employee Portal. The Student Information System is not fully operational but is planned to become operational this school year – seven years after the initial purchase. The district states, “Fees were negotiated before the project began. The cost to date is $10,013,008.” Total cost to date is over $20 million.

One Sarasota school principal got staff feedback on the ESD system (a.k.a. Crosspointe). He stated, “We have been experiencing problems with Crosspointe for a long time. It is a district problem. What I’m hearing is: Cumbersome to use. Lacks capacity. Shuts down often. Difficult for parents to use. Often inaccurate.”

Another parent in an email wrote, “About two weeks ago, personnel installed new features to Crosspointe’s gradebook. Parents can now receive weekly reports of their child’s weekly grades and attendance. I am receiving two emails of the same report for my son at Pine View. My daughter is at RHS and is not happening there. Whoever is in charge of the software is NOT thoroughly testing it before it is released to the general public. I have brought this to the attention of the School Board and the Landings administration.”

“Last year, my son’s report card (Pine View) printed the wrong grade. Crosspointe Grade book showed one grade and his report card printed another grade. Then the rounding did not work correctly. I discovered parents at Pine View whose children complained about their children’s grades not being correct and the parents did not know what to do about it. They were so appreciative of me informing them of the problems,” notes the parent.

The district representative points out, “As with any implementation of a system of this magnitude there have been issues along the way, but nothing that has not been addressed and either rectified or in the process of being rectified. Some issues have involved temporary interfaces put in place to synchronize grades and attendance with our antiquated Student Information System but all were remedied. These interfaces will be eliminated once full implementation is complete. With the Payroll function, staff continue to be paid on time, grades continue to be posted using the Gradebook function, etc.”

On October 2, 2013 Scott Lempe, Sarasota School District Chief Operating Officer, in email Update #4 on the implementation of Crosspointe states, “The Way Forward. Rather than trying to implement a new SIS District – wide we’ve identified four schools that have agreed to act as our pilot schools. They are: Tuttle, Brookside, North Port High, and Pine View. We are referring to them as the Fab‐Four! As of today we plan to go live at those schools in mid ‐November. We will use these pilot schools to test the system in a live environment, shake down the system, work out any bugs, and prepare the SIS for full District‐wide implementation. Given this timeline we’d then look to go‐live with the rest of our schools in late winter or early spring. In the mean time we will be developing things like refresher trainings and comprehensive data verification plans.”

A parent writes in an update, “Last week I received an email from Leona Campos/Collesano saying that the problem was fixed. This particular problem (one of many) was the duplicate email reports. Well they sure fixed it. Now I don’t get no reports for my daughter at Riverview High School and only one report (grades for the week) for my son at Pine View. I should be receiving two reports (emails) per child, attendance and weekly grades. My next email will be to the School Board members, the Superintendent and Scott Lempe explaining this issue again. Whoever fixed it is very, very, very careless. They throw in a fix, but don’t test it to make sure that it works. Sometimes when fixes are made to software, it can affect other conditions in the code. This is an indicator that someone does not know how to do their work. Sloppy. Scary to say the least.”

This government website is seven years old and still does not work. Maybe the School Board should realize this website is looking more like HeathCare.gov on steriods.

CEO of Enterprise Florida gets hefty pay increase at the expense of taxpayers

November 1, 2013/in Budget and Finance, Featured, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Dr. Rich Swier

Gray Swope, President and CEO of Enterprise Florida, Inc.

Enterprise Florida Inc.’s mission is to “[D]iversify Florida’s economy and create better-paying jobs for its citizens by supporting, attracting and helping to create globally competitive businesses in innovative, high-growth industries.”

According to Integrity Florida, The Tea Party Network, Americans for Prosperity – Florida and Progress Florida, the biggest better-paying job created for the next two years is that of Commerce Secretary and the President and CEO of Enterprise Florida, Inc. Gray Swope. Swope will now receive a base salary of $275,000 with a tier two incentive of $100,000. Additionally, Swope was given a two year contract with a severance (golden parachute) of $137,500 if he is fired without cause by the Board of Directors. So who is on the board? Powerful business interests, Governor Scott, CFO Jeff Atwater, AG Pam Bondi, Secretary of State Ken Detzner and state Senator Nancy Detert.

Among the powerful business executives is Alex Glenn representing Duke Energy. WDW – FL reported that the Florida Public Service Commission recently voted 4 to 1 in favor of a settlement agreement that would make Duke Energy’s Florida customers pay $3.2 billion for the the broken Crystal River and the proposed-then-canceled Levy County nuclear power plants.

In a joint statement from Integrity Florida, The Tea Party Network, Americans for Prosperity – Florida and Progress Florida regarding the new Enterprise Florida contract for Commerce Secretary Gray Swoope (see page 17):

The culture of cronyism at Enterprise Florida where corporations buy their seats at the table and get taxpayer-funded deals in return is abhorred across the political spectrum. The pay raise is the board’s way to thank the commerce secretary for picking their companies for so many vendor contracts and subsidy deals. It is fiscally irresponsible for any state official to get a two-year contract and golden parachute near the end of a governor’s term.

Why did the board decide now was the right time for an exorbitant pay increase with more than 600,000 Floridians still looking for jobs? Most Florida employers who are creating private sector jobs are doing so without subsidies from taxpayers. Florida needs to work to build a business environment where every employer matters, not just the connected.

It is more interesting that Florida is considering legislation to create “Benefit Corporations”. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have passed Benefit Corporation legislation. There is a move to pass Benefit Corporation legislation in Florida.

According to the BenefitCorp.net website, “Certified B Corporations are leading a global movement to redefine success in business…Business, the most powerful man-made force on the planet, must create value for society, not just shareholders…Over 600 businesses have already joined our community, encouraging all companies to compete not just to be the best in the world, but to be the best for the world. As a result of our collective success, individuals and communities will enjoy greater economic opportunity, society will address its most challenging environmental problems, and more people will find fulfillment by bringing their whole selves to work.”

It may be that success may be defined as a seat at the government table in Florida?

Librarian attacked for exposing cheating and fraud in Miami-Dade schools

September 13, 2013/in Education, Must Read, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Dr. Rich Swier

Trevor W. Colestock is a Library Media Specialist at Miami Norland Senior High School. Colestock is also a liaison for Miami-Dade Professional Development and United Teachers of Dade (UTD) union Building Steward.

For a larger view click on the image.

Colestock discovered teachers were cheating and being rewarded with Race To The Top and School Improvement Grant funds. This constitutes fraud, waste and abuse of taxpayer money.

Cleveland E. Roberts, III, PBS DEAN, Asst. Basketball Coach/Head JV Coach and UTD Designated Building Steward, sent a letter to all the UTD members of Norland SHS titled “Response to Trevor’s Blog“. Roberts in his letter writes, “Due to the enormous amount of attention that this Testing incident has drawn to the school from the OIG, The Miami Herald, WSVN and Watchdogwire.com; and because I am mentioned in the online blog I am compelled to make a statement to you.”

Roberts states, “I understand my job as a teacher and UTD Building Steward. I am not an agent for the Office of the Inspector General or the Office of the Auditor General. I do not investigate cases against my colleagues, I do not gather evidence against my co- workers, nor do I recommend that they not receive bonuses that are due to them for their hard work. I am not a “Watchdog”. That is not my job!! I report incidents!”

Does cheating constitute “hard work” and deserve a “bonus”? Hear no fraud, see no waste and say nothing about abuses.

Roberts then attacks Colestock. Roberts states, “I am deeply disturbed and disheartened to think that a staff member [Colestock] feels that our students are not intelligent enough to pass a test without cheating and that our teachers are not working hard enough in the classroom. Are we not entitled to our monetary bonuses because of an investigation?”

Colestock responded to the Roberts letter as follows:

“As for the allegation of me questioning our students’ intelligence, that is ridiculous. The investigation, and the articles, focus on instances of cheating and its impact on the scores, questioning performance and not intelligence.

We all know, as our students have demonstrated, that when our students study and apply themselves, they are capable of great things-the prime example being our increase in reading comprehension from 17% to 30% over the past two school years.

However, the level of productivity is a great disparity. The increase of passing students from 17 to 452 with scores 175-241 above the national average and completed in 8-22 minutes below the national average, coupled with cheat sheets and student testimony, tells anyone with common sense something is amiss. Moreover, when there are multiple records of unsatisfactory performance and there exists a passing score in 10-20 minutes, that is highly questionable. Put in context with reading levels and various EOC performance, this level of performance is unusual, especially given the presence of cheat sheets and student testimony.

This questions performance, not intelligence. The report and the evidence speaks for itself.”

Colestock exposed the cheating at Norland SHS, reported it, an Inspector General inquiry confirmed the cheating and actions are being taken to remedy the situation.

Howard Howe II, former US Commissioner of Education under President Lyndon Johnson, wrote, “What a school thinks about its library is a measure of what it thinks of education.”

EDITORS NOTE: Trevor Colestock is a volunteer citizen journalist who contributes to Watchdog Wire – Florida. Colestock receives no remuneration other than given a platform to tell the truth about what is happening in the public school system in Florida.

Rep. Buchanan bashes Brazilian boondoggle

August 19, 2013/in Featured, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Dr. Rich Swier

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R- FL District 16) in an email to constituents wrote, “As the national debt approaches $17 trillion, you would expect federal bureaucrats to think twice before wasting taxpayer dollars. You would be wrong. The latest example is a $1.5 million grant, paid by the American taxpayer, to study the smoking habits of women in the rural Brazilian state Parana.”

“This comes on the heels of a $140,000 study of pig manure in Thailand, a $400,000 expenditure to promote clean air in Indonesia and a $27 million grant to teach Moroccans how to make pottery – something Moroccans have been doing successfully since at least the 5th century B.C.,” notes Buchanan.

Buchanan states, “With 22 million Americans out of work or underemployed, Washington continues to spend money irresponsibly on projects of no value to the American people. If our nation is ever to dig out from the debt hole it has created through fiscal mismanagement, Washington must end its addiction to reckless spending.”

Buchanan sent the below letter to the Director of the National Institutes of Health:

August 16, 2013

Francis Collins
Director
National Institutes of Health
9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland 20892

Dear Director Collins:

It has come to my attention that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has approved $1.5 million in taxpayer funds to study the smoking habits of Brazilian women. According to the NIH website, the project seeks to gain a better “understanding of women and their tobacco-related issues, as well as the need for the development of gender-relevant tobacco control efforts”.

In an email Rep. Vern Buchanan states, “At a time when millions of American families are struggling to put food on the table, it is outrageous that their hard-earned money should be spent on tobacco studies in Brazil. Please explain to me how the NIH can justify this expenditure as our national debt approaches $17 trillion?”

The World Health Organization reported that the Brazilian government raises $2.2 billion annually from taxes collected on tobacco products. Yet instead of investing its own resources, Brazil gets the American taxpayer to foot the bill for a study to reduce smoking in that nation.

“No wonder the American people are frustrated with Washington. As our nation’s economy continues to struggle, we should be doing all we can to help create jobs here at home while also eliminating government waste. It’s time to put America first.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Vern Buchanan
Member of Congress

Florida gets a grade of “D” on legislative financial disclosure

August 13, 2013/in Must Read, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Dr. Rich Swier

Last year Integrity Florida released its Corruption Risk Report on legislative financial disclosure in the sunshine state. According to the Center for Public Integrity (CPI), Florida earned a D grade, ranking 26th in the U.S. for legislative financial disclosure in 2009. Louisiana ranked No. 1 on CPI’s disclosure ranking, up from 44th in 2006.

Florida voters adopted the “Sunshine Amendment” to the state constitution in 1976 after then Governor Reubin Askew led a petition drive to place the amendment on the ballot. After a series of political scandals, including one involving his own lieutenant governor, Askew felt strongly that financial disclosure for public officials was necessary “to restore the confidence of the people.” The Sunshine Amendment passed with over 79% of the vote.

Bobby Jindal worked with his state legislature in 2008 to pass new ethics laws that moved their state from the bottom to the top of the list. Louisiana Economic Development, that state’s counterpart to Enterprise Florida and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, touts ethics reform on its website. Gov. Jindal said he set out to “completely transform the ethics laws in (his) state to encourage increased business investment and job creation”.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Louisiana has maintained a lower unemployment rate than Florida every month from January 2008 through June 2012.
The clearest way to see where Florida needs to go to improve its financial disclosure ranking is to compare the 2011 financial disclosures of Gov. Jindal and Florida Gov. Rick
Scott. Financial disclosure information required in Louisiana but not in Florida includes:

More detailed outside employment information
Nonprofit board memberships
More detailed financial disclosure information from spouses
Income from government and gaming interests
More details about clients from professional or consulting services
All financial transactions exceeding $1,000
Government staff campaign contributions to public officials that employ them

According to the Center for Public Integrity, 27 states put financial disclosure filings of state officials online, but Florida does not. Integrity Florida has posted the personal
financial disclosure filings from 2011, 2010 and the first term in office for Florida’s legislators and top state officials on its website. Integrity Florida also put
online disclosures of potential voting conflicts from the 2012 legislative session, disclosures of legislators working for firms with clients before state government, disclosures of gifts received by legislators and top state officials and lists of individuals who have not filed financial disclosures and fines owed to the Ethics Commission.

The reports key findings were:

The median net worth of all Florida legislators increased by approximately 15-percent from $507,846 in 2010 to $583,461 in 2011.
11 legislators worked for lobbying firms during the 2012 session.
12 legislators disclosed a total of 33 potential voting conflicts in 2012.
More than $100,000 in gifts reported by legislators and top state officials in 2012.
Four legislators failed to disclose 2012 financial interests as of July 26, 2012.
4,284 current Florida public officials and employees failed to disclose 2012
financial interests as of July 26, 2012.
66 current and former Florida officials and employees owe a total of $87,199.03 in fines for late filing of financial interests in past years as of July 9, 2012.

Governor Scott has worked to improve legislative financial disclosure. To view the 2012 financial disclosures of Florida’s state elected officials go here.

Milton Friedman wrote, “Most of the energy of political work is devoted to correcting the effects of mismanagement of government.”

The sunshine state isn’t as sunny as Louisiana when is comes to legislative financial disclosure.

173 cases of alleged interstate voter fraud in Florida & Maryland

August 12, 2013/in Elections, Featured, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Dr. Rich Swier

True the Vote (TTV), the nation’s leading voters’ rights organization, today announced new research findings of interstate voter fraud in Florida and Maryland. Florida and Maryland state election authorities and the U.S. Department of Justice were formally notified of 173 cases of voters casting ballots simultaneously in both states during federal elections.

“These 173 cases represent True the Vote’s continued effort to expose the fragility of our absentee voting systems,” True the Vote President, Catherine Engelbrecht said. “Last year Pew Research found that 2.75 million Americans were registered to vote in more than one state. We are unfortunately continuing to see the consequences of that startling statistic. True the Vote calls on Florida, Maryland and federal officials to investigate our latest research.”

Key Facts & Data Points

Voters were identified matching full name, date of birth and residential address.
True the Vote was able to study federal voting histories from 2006 to 2012.
Cases of double voting by cycle
- 2012: 10
- 2010: 9
- 2008: 17
- 2006: 137
Most common Florida counties (cases)
- Escambia (28)
- Clay (10)
- Duval, Pinellas, Volusia (9)
Most common Maryland counties (cases)
- Anne Arundel (33)
- Montgomery (18)
- Prince George’s (17)
11 individuals double-voted in multiple federal election cycles.
12 married couples were identified double voting, some in multiple cycles.

Federal and state laws were potentially violated as a result of these activities. Federal law, specifically 42 U.S.C. § 1973i(e) clearly states that voters cannot cast more than one ballot in the same election.

True the Vote’s research follows a series of similar findings in Florida, Ohio, New York and Rhode Island, triggering criminal investigations between the states in late 2012. TTV coordinated its research with Annapolis-based Election Integrity Maryland.

Copies of the research referral letters to the U.S. Department of Justice, Florida Secretary of State and the Maryland State Board of Elections have been made available to the public.

RELATED:

Letter to DOJ Election Crimes Division (Scribd)
Letter to Florida Secretary of State (Scribd)
Letter to Maryland State Board of Elections (Scribd)

ABOUT TRUE THE VOTE:

True The Vote (TTV) a nonpartisan, nonprofit grassroots organization focused on preserving election integrity is operated by citizens for citizens, to inspire and equip volunteers for involvement at every stage of our electoral process. TTV empowers organizations and individuals across the nation to actively protect the rights of legitimate voters, regardless of their political party affiliation. For more information, please visit www.truethevote.org.

Voto Honesto (TTV) es una organización sin fines de lucro, no partidaria, enfocada en preservar la integridad en las elecciones y operada por ciudadanos para ciudadanos, ara inspirar y equipar a voluntarios para envolverse en cada una de las etapas del proceso electoral. TTT capacita a organizaciones e individuos a través de la nación para activamente proteger los derechos de los votantes legítimos, sin importar a que partido político perteneces. Para más información, por favor visite www.votohonesto.org.

Bipartisan coalition finds lack of transparency and accountability for Enterprise Florida bonus plan

August 8, 2013/in Budget and Finance, Must Read, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Dr. Rich Swier

The independent government watchdog group Integrity Florida, Progress Florida and The Tea Party Network are raising concerns about the lack of transparency and accountability for a $700,000 bonus plan being considered by the board of directors of Enterprise Florida. Enterprise Florida is a taxpayer-funded entity created by the Florida Legislature that operates as the state’s commerce department.

In a letter to Governor Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who all serve on the board of directors of Enterprise Florida, the bipartisan group states:

“Secretary of Commerce Gray Swoope and his staff at Enterprise Florida are seeking your approval of a proposal to allow them to exceed one million dollars in bonus pay within the last twelve months. On September 13, 2012, the Enterprise Florida board of directors voted in favor of $497,500 in bonuses for Secretary Swoope and his staff.

On August 8, 2013, the Enterprise Florida board will consider a proposal for an additional $630,000 bonus pool just for the staff and a separate, yet to be disclosed, bonus package for Secretary Swoope. Secretary Swoope’s last bonus of $70,000 was approved at the September 2012 Enterprise Florida board meeting, despite the item never appearing on the board agenda. Secretary Swoope’s proposed 2013 bonus is not on your August 8 meeting agenda, which was just published online on August 2, less than a week before your upcoming vote on the bonus plan, an agenda item buried on page 26.”

The letter notes, “There are also major flaws in the Enterprise Florida bonus criteria, including allowing the staff to count jobs promised towards their jobs created goal. Basically, the Enterprise Florida staff negotiates agreements with companies promising jobs in exchange for subsidies, then counts pledges that companies might create jobs in the future as performance that merits bonuses. Jobs promised by Enterprise Florida board member companies who negotiate incentive deals with Enterprise Florida staff are also allowed to be counted towards the staff performance goals for their bonuses, which clearly presents a conflict of interest.”

The bipartisan coalition recommends the following remedies:

Ensure Enterprise Florida complies with the law. We urge you to consider delaying the August 8 vote on the Secretary of Commerce and Enterprise Florida staff bonuses until you are able to assure taxpayers that the organization’s operating budget is in compliance with the requirements of Florida Statutes Section 288.904(2)(a).

Increase transparency. We encourage the Enterprise Florida board of directors to be more transparent about its practices by posting online complete agendas of all meetings of the board and board committees at least a week in advance, posting online minutes immediately following meetings and providing online access to audio or video recordings of all committee and board meetings in a timely manner online.

Increase accountability. We encourage the Enterprise Florida board of directors to protect Florida taxpayers with a more accountable process for staff performance recognition and awards that avoids conflicts of interest. Any incentive compensation plan for the Secretary of Commerce and Enterprise Florida staff should be based on actual results that benefit Floridians rather than promises alone.

The letter is signed by Mark Ferrulo, Executive Director of Progress Florida, Dan Krassner, Executive Director of Integrity Florida and Catherine Baer, Chair of The TEA Party Network.

Florida education chief changed Indiana grading formula to benefit charter school

July 30, 2013/in Education, Must Read, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Dr. Rich Swier

WDW – FL reported that Florida Commissioner of Education Tony Bennett recently recommended “the continuation of the transition safety net provision that prevents schools from dropping more than one letter grade in a given year.” It appears changing school grades is part of Commissioner Bennett’s modus operandi.

The Associated Press reported, “Former Indiana and current Florida schools chief Tony Bennett built his national star by promising to hold “failing” schools accountable. But when it appeared an Indianapolis charter school run by a prominent Republican donor might receive a poor grade, Bennett’s education team frantically overhauled his signature “A-F” school grading system to improve the school’s marks.”

In one email, Bennett wrote, “They need to understand that anything less than an ‘A’ for Christel House compromises all of our accountability work.”

In another, he wrote, “This will be a HUGE problem for us.”

The charter school’s founder, Christel DeHaan, has given more than $2.8 million to Republicans since 1998, including $130,000 to Bennett, according to the AP. DeHaan told the AP that she never asked for any special treatment.

Bennett told the Times/Herald Monday that Christel House was among the top-performing charter schools in Indiana. If it hadn’t earned an A, that meant something was wrong with the entire grading system, he said.

“It had nothing to do with politics,” he said.

Online Survey: Which of the Ten Commandments do politicians violate most?

July 29, 2013/in Elections, Must Read, Policy, Politics, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Dr. Rich Swier

Daily headlines report on politicians who have fallen from grace. From San Diego to New York the list grows. The sins committed are always used for political gain by political opponents. Religion has become politicized and politics has become a religion for some.

Americans are questioning the morality of our elected officials.

The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the Brookings Institute released their 2013 Economic Values Survey. PRRI and Brookings state, “Our new research shows a complex religious landscape, with religious conservatives holding an advantage over religious progressives in terms of size and homogeneity,” said Dr. Robert P. Jones, CEO of Public Religion Research Institute. “However, the percentage of religious conservatives shrinks in each successive generation, with religious progressives outnumbering religious conservatives in the Millennial generation.”

The PRRI and Brookings note, “Religious progressives are significantly younger and more diverse than their conservative counterparts. The mean age of the religious progressive population is 44 – just under the mean age in the general population of 47 – while the mean age of religious conservatives is 53. Twenty-three percent of Millennials (ages 18-33) are religious progressives, while 17 percent are religious conservatives. Among Millennials, there are also nearly as many nonreligious (22 percent) as religious progressives. Conversely, 12 percent of the Silent Generation (ages 66-88) are religious progressives, while 47 percent are religious conservatives. One-in-ten (10 percent) of the Silent Generation are nonreligious.”

Are politicians merely a reflection of us?

The Torah Exodus 20 contains the Ten Commandments. Please take our online survey and pick the commandment you see being violated the most by politicians.

To view the results of the survey click here.

2 Timothy 3:1-11 BOOKS

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”

See it at YouVersion.com: http://bible.us/31/2ti.3.1.books

Fact Check: Does the Bible really support rape and polygamy?

Alert: Feds to spend $8 million in Florida to sell Obamacare

July 22, 2013/in Featured, Healthcare, News, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Dr. Rich Swier

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) reports it has 46 awards totaling $8,052,533 to sell the Affordable Healthcare Act in Florida.

The DHHS website states, “Florida has 48 health centers with 410 sites that served 1,136,458 patients last year, 43.65 percent of them uninsured. With their Outreach and Enrollment funding, the health centers listed below expect to hire 163 new workers, who will assist 158,160 people with enrollment into affordable health insurance coverage.”

This is government promoting government.

Below is a list of the healthcare centers which received awards:

Health Center	City	Award Amount
BANYAN COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER, INC.	Miami	$62,146
BOND COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER, INC.	Tallahassee	$138,189
BORINQUEN HEALTH CARE CENTER, INC.	Miami	$258,243
BREVARD HEALTH ALLIANCE INC., THE	Melbourne	$152,401
BROWARD COMMUNITY AND FAMILY HEALTH CENTERS, INC.	Hollywood	$124,835
CAMILLUS HEALTH CONCERN, INC.	Miami	$94,926
CENTRAL FLORIDA FAMILY HEALTH CENTER, INC.	Sanford	$297,546
CENTRAL FLORIDA HEALTH CARE, INC.	Avon Park	$184,081
CITRUS HEALTH NETWORK, INC.	Hialeah	$131,831
COLLIER HEALTH SERVICES, INC.	Immokalee	$176,623
COMMUNITY AIDS RESOURCE	Miami	$87,809
COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS OF PINELLAS, INC.	Saint Petersburg	$205,102
COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS, INC.	Winter Garden	$298,063
COMMUNITY HEALTH OF SOUTH FLORIDA, INC.	Cutler Bay	$603,291
ESCAMBIA COMMUNITY CLINICS, INC.	Pensacola	$173,884
FAMILY HEALTH CENTER OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, INC.	Lake City	$87,028
FAMILY HEALTH CENTERS OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, INC.	Fort Myers	$237,882
FLORIDA COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER, INC.	West Palm Beach	$173,653
GENESIS COMMUNITY HEALTH, INC.	Boynton Beach	$64,918
HEALTH CARE DISTRICT OF PALM BEACH COUNTY	Lake Worth	$409,878
HEALTH, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF	Port St. Joe	$81,880
HEALTH, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF	Tallahassee	$76,534
HEALTH, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF	Jacksonville	$173,939
HEALTH, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF	Lake Butler	$71,727
HEALTH, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF	Spring Hill	$105,662
HEALTH, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF	Sarasota	$171,544
HEALTH, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF	Kissimmee	$166,877
HEALTH CARE CENTER FOR THE HOMELESS, INC.	Orlando	$168,637
HEART OF FLORIDA HEALTH CENTER, INC.	Ocala	$121,414
JESSIE TRICE COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER, INC.	Miami	$265,635
MANATEE COUNTY RURAL HEALTH SERVICES, INC.	Parrish	$394,379
MIAMI BEACH COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER, INC.	Miami	$209,480
NORTH BROWARD HOSPITAL DISTRICT	Fort Lauderdale	$93,353
NORTH FLORIDA MEDICAL CENTERS, INC.	Tallahassee	$162,719
NORTHEAST FLORIDA	Pierson	$121,524
PANCARE OF FLORIDA, INC.	Panama City	$95,971
PINELLAS, COUNTY OF	Clearwater	$75,434
PREMIER COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE GROUP, INC.	Dade City	$138,189
PROJECT HEALTH, INC.	Sumterville	$106,938
RURAL HEALTH CARE, INC.	Palatka	$176,205
RURAL HEALTH NETWORK OF MONROE COUNTY FLORIDA, INC.	Key West	$61,970
SUNCOAST COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS, INC.	Ruskin	$253,040
TAMPA FAMILY HEALTH CENTERS, INC.	Tampa	$398,284
THE SULZBACHER I M CENTER FOR	Jacksonville	$105,783
TREASURE COAST COMMUNITY HEALTH, INC.	Fellsmere	$134,987
TRENTON MEDICAL CENTER	Trenton	$158,099

RELATED INFORMATION:

Health centers to help uninsured Americans gain affordable health insurance coverage press release (07/10/2013)

Health Centers Outreach and Enrollment Awards by State map and list

Funding Opportunity Announcement: HRSA-13-279 (PDF – 1.7 MB)

Health Center Program

Zimmerman Aftershock: NBC lawsuit, calls to investigate State Attorney Corey

July 15, 2013/in Government Transparency, Gun Rights, Must Read, News, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Dr. Rich Swier

The name George Zimmerman is sending aftershocks across the state of Florida and the nation.

Since his acquittal on all charges stemming from the self defense shooting of Martin many actions and counter actions are anticipated. Among them: the lawsuit against NBC for “yellow journalism” and calls to investigate Florida State Attorney Angela Corey‘s misleading affidavit of probable cause, which had not disclosed significant exculpatory details.

Both are interrelated and deal with telling the truth.

In the first instance NBC employees (recently fired) selectively edited the 911 call that aired.

The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple reports Zimmerman attorney James Beasley stated that he and his team were eager to resume the [NBC] suit, which had been put on hold due to the beginning of the criminal trial. With that out of the way, they now intend to proceed. “We’re going to start in earnest asap, we just have to get the stay lifted which is a ministerial act,” Beasley said via email. Beasley did acknowledge that while Zimmerman’s victory in his criminal trial could be helpful to this civil suit, it was not a guarantee that he would win his defamation case.

To understand NBC’s alleged “yellow journalism” perhaps the following quotes from from a former Monitor/NBC Radio reporter are useful. The comments were sent to WDW – FL by Don Blair, former Monitor/NBC Radio news commentator and Florida resident. Blair’s last broadcast for Monitor/NBC Radio was in 1989. Blair was responding to a column posted by WDW – FL and wrote in a series of exchanges referring to Zimmerman: “Probably that a cold blooded murderer has been set free.” … “Is he immune from a drive-by shooting? I don’t think this man can look forward to a long…or longer life from here on out. I will drink to his death…hopefully a painful one.” … “I’ll say it again. I will drink a toast the day that miserable bastard is gunned down.” Similar comments were made by others on social media sites. One of the defense attorneys referred to the media as “mad scientists“. Some in the media “cry foul” on the verdict.

While Blair’s comments do not reflect on the current management or employees of NBC or its affiliates, there is a lesson to be gotten from his mind set regarding the Zimmerman case.

Florida State Attorney Angela Corey

The second issue are calls for an investigation of State Attorney Angela Corey for the misleading affidavit which lead to charge of second degree murder against Zimmerman.

Multiple emails to WDW – FL state, “Please write to Governor Scott and request that he immediately order a full and comprehensive investigation into the actions of State Attorney Angela Corey during the entire George Zimmerman arrest and trial.”

William A. Jacobson from Legal Insurrection reports:

In early April 2012, Florida State Attorney Angela Corey decided not to take the George Zimmerman case to a Grand Jury, opting for the filing of a Criminal Information which then was presented along with an Affidavit of Probable Cause. The Court found probable cause for the charges.

It turned out, once pre-trial discovery was exchanged, that the affidavit upon which probable cause was found had not disclosed a lot of significant exculpatory details. There was no mention of the significant injuries to Zimmerman, or of John Good’s eyewitness account that Martin was on top of Zimmerman hitting him Mixed Martial Arts style. All the Affidavit said on the subject of the physical confrontation was that there was “a struggle.”

Public buses: The poster child for government waste

July 8, 2013/in Budget and Finance, Featured, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Dr. Rich Swier

Sarasota County Area Transit logo

Florida has many public transportation systems. The most common are buses. Public bus systems rarely pay for themselves. Rather they are heavily subsidized by the federal, state and local government. The system that WDW – FL analyzed was the Sarasota County Area Transit bus system or SCAT. SCAT is one of the better run bus systems for a medium sized Florida county.

After reviewing the data provided to WDW – FL (available to the Sarasota County Commissioners) by SCAT our analysis found:

SCAT in FY 2013 lost $22.59 million (operating minus fairs). The loss was covered by federal ($3.2M), state ($2.6M) and local ($16.8M) taxpayer revenues. SCAT lost $1.02M per route or approximately $7.28 per passenger.

To break even the county would have to raise the fees by approximately $7.50 per passenger.

To determine if this system was cost effective and to aid our analysis we asked a series of questions about SCAT to Sarah Blanchard, AICP from SCAT. Blanchard provided us with the following answers.

1. How many passengers annually by year for the past 5 years?

See PowerPoint Ridership below:

For a larger view click on the image.

2. What is the cost of salaries, benefits and retirement costs in the numbers?

Salaries and Fringes are identified in the following table.

	FY2007	FY2008	FY2009	FY2010	FY2011
Salaries & Fringes	$9,819,784	$10,675,148	$10,996,414	$11,111,303	$10,988,695

3. Are SCAT personnel under the Florida Retirement System or a 401k plan?

Yes. All SCAT personnel are under the Florida Retirement System (FRS). NOTE: The FRS Investment Plan is a “defined contribution retirement plan” qualified under Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code.

4. What are the rider fees over the past 5 years?

See below PowerPoint Total Operating Revenues by Funding Source. The area in green represents Farebox, Passes, and Services.

For a larger image click on the slide.

5. What is the capital costs over the past five years?

Capital costs for the past five years are identified in the following table.

Capital	FY2007	FY2008	FY2009	FY2010	FY2011
Federal Funds	$4,474,463	$383,876	$1,999,171	$862,937	$8,133,077
State Funds	$190,238	$333,915	$76,880	$254,732	$549,652
Local Funds	$1,784,090	$332,768	$1,144,849	$672,506	$2,049,307
Total	$6,448,791	$1,050,559	$3,220,900	$1,790,175	$10,732,036

6. What do hybrid buses cost versus normally aspirated buses?

The following pricing is extracted from most recent SCAT Purchase Orders for buses. These are average pricing and represent base price plus amenities.

Hybrid Diesel Electric 29 – 35 Foot: approximately $585,000 (2011 pricing)

Low Floor Diesel 40 Foot: approximately $422,000 (2010 pricing)

7. How many buses does the county own?

SCAT owns 121 vehicles (65 Fixed Route, 8 Commuter Buses, 48 Paratransit).

8. What does it cost annually to operate a single bus hybrid and normally aspirated?

Average cost

2006 Hybrids Cost Per Mile is 0.33

2006 Diesels Cost Per Mile is 0.24

2009 Hybrids Cost Per Mile is 0.17

2011 Hybrids Cost Per Mile is 0.08

IG Report: Florida state college presidents living like kings

July 5, 2013/in Budget and Finance, Education, Featured, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Dr. Rich Swier

Governor Rick Scott requested the Office of the Inspector General to review the compensation for Florida’s twenty-eight (28) State College Presidents. What the IG found in its Report #2013-12 is enlightening given the rising cost of higher education and growing student loan debt to pay for a college degree.

The IG report found:

The total compensation reported for the twenty-eight (28) state college presidents in FY 2012-2013 ranged from $143,866 to $630,157 for a reported total of
$9,811,292 paid from state appropriated funds, student fees, auxiliary funds, direct support organizations’ funds, grants and other non-state college funds.
State college presidents’ reported compensation included some or all of the following: salary, annuities, deferred compensation, vehicle provisions, housing allowances, major medical insurance premiums, leave, incentives, and other compensation/benefits including annual physical exams, cell phones, internet access, relocation expenses, and memberships/dues.
Some college presidents receive post-employment perquisites including but not limited to the transfer of ownership of the vehicle provided by the colleges to the president, computer equipment, one year sabbatical with full pay and benefits, or health insurance for life after employment with the college ends.

The IG reported, “One statute limiting the amount that can be paid for the presidents’ salaries from state appropriated funds. We also noted that each of the twenty-eight (28) state colleges reported compliance with this statute to the Division as required. However, we found that: 1) there were no standardized parameters for boards of trustees to use to determine the reasonableness of the total compensation for the state college presidents or the factors upon which the total compensation is based; and, 2) the forms and amounts of compensation varied across colleges.”

The IG noted, “Instances where the total value of the presidents’ compensation was not readily transparent in that many of the contract terms did not contain assigned values. Some contract terms contained benefits payable to the presidents for life or benefits not yet earned making it difficult to ascertain the full financial obligation on the colleges from these contracts.”

Concerning severance pay, the IG noted:

The twenty-eight (28) state college presidents’ contracts were reviewed for compliance with Section 215.425, F.S., and we noted that the contract language for severance pay varied across colleges. For example, some of the state colleges have presidential contracts that contain severance pay language if the president separates from the college “without cause”; some contracts address severance pay if the president separates from the college “for cause”; some contracts were silent about the conditions when severance pay was paid; and, some contracts, as written, were contrary to statute because the amount exceeded the limits outlined in statute.

Finally the IG found, “Only eight (8) of the twenty-eight (28) colleges tied the presidents’ contracts to performance.”

Sounds like Florida’s state college presidents are living like kings.