What happens when you report waste of DC tax payer dollars to the Inspector General, the Auditor and a Councilmember? Not much.
For over 20 years, ANC 8C has spent anywhere from $700 - $900 a month for paid office space at 3125 MLK Avenue SE. For the past 5 years, ANC 8C has reported payments of nearly $58,000 in office rent for an office that hasn’t had phone or fax service since 2003/2004. Most perplexing, according to quarterly reports filed by ANC 8C with the DC Auditor, ANC 8C hasn’t submitted an expense for office supplies since fiscal year 2004. In fact, the only significant expense reported by ANC 8C to the DC Auditor has been for office rent.
Residents of ANC 8C have expressed to the OIG and the DC Auditor concerns regarding the legitimacy (and practicality) of the office rent expenses considering:
1. ANC 8C monthly meetings are held for free at the UPO Petey Greene Center (2907 MLK Avenue SE) for at least 2 years, possibly longer.
2. The paid office space located at 3125 MLK Ave SE hasn’t had telephone service since 2003 or 2004 and the last reported office supply expense ($869) was in fiscal year 2004. The office also does not have office hours. How likely is it that this office was used for ANC 8C business when their has been none of the types of expenditures one would expect for an active office?
3. The office rent was the only significant expense reported for ANC 8C for fiscal years 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004.
4. The office rent expenses for 2006 – 2009 (and possibly earlier) were never presented or approved by the ANC 8C Commission and/or included in an annual budget as required by ANC law.
5. If the lack of a quorum is to blame for the lack of spending for office supplies or telephone service wouldn't that same lack of a quorum prevent the approval of rent payments?
6. At least two of the five current ANC 8C commissioners have past convictions for embezzlement and/or theft.
When the Office of Tax and Revenue scandal broke I used to wonder how it could be possible for someone to embezzle $50 million dollars from the DC government without getting caught. Now, after reading story...after story...after story... highlighting DC government waste I’m not so surprised anymore. It seems to a layperson like myself that the District loses more money as a result of poor oversight and planning as opposed to budget cuts. I love DC but sometimes I have to wonder who is watching the store and who is watching the ones that are supposed to be watching the store? In these hard economic times we need to make every dollar count, we literally can't afford to be complacent.
Below are the documents (posted in chronological order) provided by theOffice of the Inspector General in response to the FOIA request.
Special Note: In the 2nd paragraph of this page the DC Auditor states,
"The ANC properly approved the disbursement of the $900 monthly rent payment and has executed a lease which sets forth the terms and conditions of this obligation." This is later refuted in the Auditor's September 2, 2009 Audit report of ANC 8C (page 5):
"The Auditor found that ANC 8C failed to produce and maintain minutes of all public meetings documenting the Commission's approval of these rental payments for the period October 1, 2006 through March 31, 2009. ANC 8C also failed ot develop and approve annual spending plan budgets, during the audit period, detailing and adopting these rental payments in their annual budget." The DC Auditor even went so far to recommend that unless ratified within 90 days of the date of the audit report, that the Assoicate Chief Financial Officer for the Office of Finance and Rescource Management deduct $24,300 from ANC 8C's next allotments for rent payments made without the approval of ANC 8C Comissioners.
And when it's all said and done you get a nice little tidy form email from the Office of the Inspector General.
Excerpt:
"Please be advised that the jurisdiction of this Office extends to allegations that rise to the level of fraud, waste, or abuse relating to the District of Columbia government. Accordingly, after reviewing your complaint, it has been determined that a formal investigation by this Office is not warranted at this time. However, if additional information regarding these allegations becomes available to you, please feel free to forward that information to this Office for further consideration. When doing so, please mention your previous correspondence to allow us to reference your earlier complaint.
A response to this electronic mail message is not necessary.
I hope this information is helpful to you. If we may be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to call this Office."
For more Congress Heights and River East news visit The Congress Heights Examiner website, http://www.examiner.com/x-13507-Congress-Heights-Community-Examiner
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