COLUMN: Governments require oversight
Without oversight, corruption will inevitably ensue. That dynamic is true in any business, but it is even more true in government.
The reason is that government officials think they answer to no one. That is evident at all levels of government, from some local city halls all the way to the White House.
Only oversight of public officials will keep the system honest.
Two examples of that come to mind. First, is the case of Bell, California. You may have heard of that terrible city government where the city manager was making $800,000 per year, the police chief $457,000 per year and each city council member over $100,000 per year.
How did that happen? For one thing, the city of 38,000 people lost its local newspaper in a consolidation. No one from the media was watching, until a Los Angles Times reporter dug into the story.
The little town was run by an abusive government that became corrupt because nobody was watching.
The second example comes from a small town in Louisiana. The town privatized its services by hiring a firm to run the city and paid the firm $4 million a year. The local newspaper made an open records request to the company and was turned down because the firm claimed it was private, not public.
The matter is now in litigation, but it’s obvious that city officials are up to no good. Hiding records behind a shield of “private” is never a good idea (and can’t be done legally in Georgia.)
The problem with government is that there is not enough independent oversight of how public officials handle public money. While local governments do have audits done, those are, for the most part, useless. Auditors often give local governments glowing reports and fail to point out financial problems in advance. Many public officials fail to even read their own audits.
There is an atmosphere of “we’re owed this” by many public officials who in turn pillage the public coffers for their own use. They get paid high salaries. They used public money for cars they really don’t need. They expect large benefits in health care and retirement.
That’s why several states are sinking. It’s not because of the recession, it’s because public officials and public unions have corrupted the system for their own gain.
It is this culture of abuse that this newspaper and its sister publications exist to watch for. Sometimes people say we’re too aggressive in asking questions or making open records requests of local governments. But the truth is, we should be doing even more of that. As many past instances have shown, local governments here are not immune to theft, abuse and plain old cronyism.
So we’ll keep asking questions and looking at records to see if your tax dollars are being spent as they should be. Only such oversight will help prevent abuse.
***
Speaking of bad local governments, I keep hearing from credible sources that the feds have taken an interest into the financial and legal doings in the City of Pendergrass. A group of whistleblowers last year unmasked the town’s leadership for its abuses, including financial abuse by city officials.
If the feds are involved, it won’t be for Mickey Mouse stuff. Secret grand jury actions are reportedly in the works and some sources say the city’s ties to a local bank may also be part of the feds investigation.
Nobody will talk officially about this, but a federal probe on top of an ongoing GBI investigation doesn’t say much good about the city’s leadership or its sorry reputation.
Stay tuned.
Mike Buffington is editor of The Jackson Herald. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.
Only oversight of public officials will keep the system honest.
Two examples of that come to mind. First, is the case of Bell, California. You may have heard of that terrible city government where the city manager was making $800,000 per year, the police chief $457,000 per year and each city council member over $100,000 per year.
How did that happen? For one thing, the city of 38,000 people lost its local newspaper in a consolidation. No one from the media was watching, until a Los Angles Times reporter dug into the story.
The little town was run by an abusive government that became corrupt because nobody was watching.
The second example comes from a small town in Louisiana. The town privatized its services by hiring a firm to run the city and paid the firm $4 million a year. The local newspaper made an open records request to the company and was turned down because the firm claimed it was private, not public.
The matter is now in litigation, but it’s obvious that city officials are up to no good. Hiding records behind a shield of “private” is never a good idea (and can’t be done legally in Georgia.)
The problem with government is that there is not enough independent oversight of how public officials handle public money. While local governments do have audits done, those are, for the most part, useless. Auditors often give local governments glowing reports and fail to point out financial problems in advance. Many public officials fail to even read their own audits.
There is an atmosphere of “we’re owed this” by many public officials who in turn pillage the public coffers for their own use. They get paid high salaries. They used public money for cars they really don’t need. They expect large benefits in health care and retirement.
That’s why several states are sinking. It’s not because of the recession, it’s because public officials and public unions have corrupted the system for their own gain.
It is this culture of abuse that this newspaper and its sister publications exist to watch for. Sometimes people say we’re too aggressive in asking questions or making open records requests of local governments. But the truth is, we should be doing even more of that. As many past instances have shown, local governments here are not immune to theft, abuse and plain old cronyism.
So we’ll keep asking questions and looking at records to see if your tax dollars are being spent as they should be. Only such oversight will help prevent abuse.
***
Speaking of bad local governments, I keep hearing from credible sources that the feds have taken an interest into the financial and legal doings in the City of Pendergrass. A group of whistleblowers last year unmasked the town’s leadership for its abuses, including financial abuse by city officials.
If the feds are involved, it won’t be for Mickey Mouse stuff. Secret grand jury actions are reportedly in the works and some sources say the city’s ties to a local bank may also be part of the feds investigation.
Nobody will talk officially about this, but a federal probe on top of an ongoing GBI investigation doesn’t say much good about the city’s leadership or its sorry reputation.
Stay tuned.
Mike Buffington is editor of The Jackson Herald. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.
The other cause to the corruption in government you speak of is that people are like cattle. They tend to "WAIT" for someone else to take care of the issue. Or "hide" when it matters for someone to speak against something that is corrupt. For, shy should they get involved or shame themselves if at least one other person can do it for them?
It is no coincidence you/or your paper have won numerous awards for its contents. From reading your paper closely over the past few years, I can safely say you have an investigative mind which I as a citizen of Jackson County appreciate. You hold no punches. You ask the questions which could possibly get you shot (this worries me-but someone has to watch out for us). I have to admit I have sometimes wondered if you have camera surveillance at your home to keep you safe.
Then there is that nonchalant attitude which the majority like to partake in and say, "It doesn't affect me directly therefore I am not going to worry about it." Um, yes you idiot it does affect you directly for YOUR tax dollars are the dollars being spent on items such as over paid salaries which was referenced in the above article.
Sometimes I wonder..how bad does it have to get before VOTERS start making DEMANDS, before VOTERS start making a difference and start VOTING the right people in, before those who are NOT registered to vote GET OFF THEIR LAZY BUMS AND VOTE!!!!!!!!
Secondly, I echo "A depressed Jackson County Citizen's" passion to see caring citizens get out and vote. My opinion is that the July primary eligible voter numbers (roughly 22%) are pathetically low.
However, that is the past. Like "1911A1" said in so many words, we the people who want a more perfect union can fire the professional self-serving incumbents this November. In doing so, let us make sure we do not hire from the same corrupt and insipid applicant pool when we sweep out the old and replace with the new.
Know your candidates.
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?
Jeremiah 17:9 NASB
If anything is learned from the Bush-era tax cuts it is this: People who have amassed significant resources did not amass those resources by buying diapers and paying electric bills and they certainly aren't going to spend enough for the government to recoup the reduction from their tax bills. The past ten years should be prove enough.
If your tax bill is reduced by $1,000 then for the government to make that up in sales tax (7% in Barrow), you will need to spend over $14,000. The $1,000 savings does not equate to $14,000 in available disposable income.
Go Dawgs.
Spend it on public safety? Like a Fire training center that was on the ballet for $800,000 but cost 2.4 Million ? Did they let us re vote or just go spend OUR money ?!
That list goes on and on and it wasn't all just a few corrupt small towns as you claim.
How about all the development at the Maysville exit that Commerce spent money on for infrastructure paid by SPLOST that sits empty and rotting ?
It will take years to get to the point of "we don't have the infrastructure " in Jackson County before your argument is valid.
I will NOT continue to feed developers with SPLOST.
Time for ALL governments in Jackson to understand it's OUR money not theirs.
Vote NO !
Secondly, I believe the Commerce development was not a SPLOST project but also from some bonds of some sort.
Furthermore, by public safety, I meant having an adequate number of ambulance stations around the county even as population and industry grows and also being able to purchase those ambulances and police cars because they don't tie up other funding that should go to those things but are instead being spent to build stations and other essentials. As for infrastructure, I meant SPLOST paying for our ordinary roads, bridges, water treatment systems, sidewalks, town lighting, etc. Those are things that big companies (who employ so many of us) look for when assessing quality of life, business fit and sustainability in prospective communities.
Sure parks are nice, but folks have to be smart about where they are built and how much they cost in the long run. Again, parks are a quality of life issue that benefits both the community for recreation and businesses that want to locate in a community.
With that said, I'd rather vote to have pennies from everyone's sales go to help pay for government services rather than property taxes and high user fees.
With regards to #6, your math is fuzzy. Also most essential grocery items in Georgia are not taxed.
Go Dawgs!
So we’ll keep asking questions and looking at records to see if your tax dollars are being spent as they should be. Only such oversight will help prevent abuse."
~I appreciate it...all of it that you do greatly! ~Stay unstressed & ~God bless!~