How the watered-down audits bill got that way

“It is unusual that, in this day and age, a piece of political reporting can make me physically ill, but with the help of SRB and her minions providing the grist. . . you’ve done it!!”
– Macnac

“The lure of political acceptance packaged alongside the mayor’s ‘with us or against us’ political order has induced even in some of the more able among us a political neuterism that I find downright repulsive and shameful.”
– The Fire Next Time

“Note to Mayor: What a total crock. (That is all.)”
– Mairzdoatz

“Deceitfully wittering on about how much audits ‘cost’ without acknowledging that audits recover far more in revenues. And all of them – even Stokes, Young and Henry – seem ok with the idea that the Mayor should carry on dictating the auditing process. Who, or what, is the Mayor trying to protect here?“
– ConnellHyde

“In the end though, most blame falls on Joan Pratt’s shoulders. Mayor isn’t ever going to hand over power to other people, but Pratt can be a continuous voice of scrutiny. How freaking easy would it be to go ape every year, target areas of real waste and attack the executive position while also making a name for yourself. At a cynical, pragmatic level it makes total sense.”
– Gman
_________________________________________________
Anti-abortion signage at Artscape

“Really good point about Occupy. They wouldn’t let in that artist Robert McClintock display his artworks cause they’re mediocre, but those posters are okay? I guess the difference is the anti-choice crew has teams of lawyers, and probably some friends at city hall, too. . . I was very glad I was able to steer my 4-year-old away from the posters before he had a chance to see them.”
– marciejb

“I’m all for freedom of speech, but this is disgusting.”
– Nick Frisone, via Facebook

“I agree abortion is disgusting. . . we should never allow abortion; it stops a beating heart.”
– Sermattei Genga
_______________________________________
Inside City Hall: Cutting through the audits bill static

“This nonsense from some of our elected ‘leaders’ is unfathomable. Have these folks never held a job- anywhere? Where could they possibly get the idea that annual audits aren’t expected? Or that some kind of “performance assessment” would be an acceptable substitute for a financial audit?”
– Mark C

“Performance audits – while particularly useful in determine how an agency is meeting their objectives and providing guidance on more efficient means to meet those objectives – is not something city residents are pining for. I think we are all pretty confident that our agencies are somewhat wasteful at this point, but we do want to know where the money is going.”
– jjthomas

“You missed my point completely . . . A thorough bi/annual audit on all 60+ agencies is not efficient or cost-effective. Risk analysis is a key factor when determining where a corporation, or in this case government, should look for waste.”
– Nick J. Mosby

“Oh come on, you know very well that your preferred choice – to conduct an audit of the ‘largest departments’ every four years!! – was not based on an auditor’s ‘risk analysis’!! It is a stupid idea, cooked up in the back rooms of City Hall.”
– ConnellHyde

“Mr Mosby, please can you tell us why, in the council meeting on July 16, you voted *for* the Mayor’s amendment #5 that proposed to do away with financial audits and restrict to performance audits only? Quality indeed!”
– ConnellHyde

“These audits are going to uncover all kinds of disturbing realities within the agencies. You would think that Mayor Grumpy would want this exposed now so that the voters have time to forget before she runs for reelection. Meanwhile, we just got our property tax bills and we have no idea whether that money is being properly handled.”
– Smiley

“I hate saying this but Councilman Cole is correct, BMore has only ONE set of financial books – The Finance Department. No other City agency maintains detailed, auditable financial records incorporating sufficient financial controls to qualify as auditable. This is NOT new, but a long standing bad practice, where the Finance Department allocates money to begin each year and the individual agencies simply spend it.”
– Kim Trueheart
___________________________________________________
FLOOD VIDEO: “Hope the rats went with it”

“Doubtful. They’re excellent swimmers.”
– BaltoSpectator, via Twitter

“People need to clean up the trash in their neighborhoods like in the old days. The trash clogs the storm drains and then the water has no where to go.”
– Old Fashioned

“I was one of the half dozen people in the neighborhood who shoveled up the majority of that trash last night between the storms. Nothing like cleaning up the trash for everyone in a two mile radius. . .”
– PattersonParkResident

“A big THANK YOU from someone who lives downstream on the tidal Patapsco. Just hoping (against hope) that there won’t be any more million gallon spills of raw sewage from Baltimore County or City’s sewage pumping stations. . .”
– rkolberg
______________________________________________________________
Baltimore’s finances need a good scrubbing

“Shouldn’t this have been part of our civic DNA since, I don’t know, forever?”
– Pontoon Man

“Doesn’t [Hyman Pressman’s] rein, from ’63 to ’91, coincide with Schaefer’s huge expansion of the executive position and the growth of uh, ‘unconventional’ means to finance pet projects with a ‘shadow government.’ Feel like that statement is a tad idealistic/rosy look at a past that was dramatically more complicated than you express here.”
– Gman

“Since there is already model legislation available to use as a template, what’s the excuse for not implementing an audit of city finances? In hard economic times, public funds should be spent wisely.”
– JS

“To mandate that auditors should be free of political manipulation and intimidation is to decree the impossible. We have a corrupt and arrogant political culture, from the mayor on down, that practices micromanagement and power mongering like a religion. There has to be a fundamental intellectual and ethical ambition within the political culture of Baltimore for any high minded mandate . . . to succeed.”
– Unellu
____________________________________
Judge rubber stamped bonuses for RG Steel executives

“These top 10 creeps only deserve a 32 ounce louisville slugger, you know what i mean?”
– Bigpapapump

“Over $20M for running the company straight into the ground. The revenue that SP has generated was typically in spite of senior management, not because of it.”
– HS

“Must have agreed to kick a few bones back to the judge while they were in chambers.”
– Hot Metal Guru (Jack Rose)

“Unbelievable, the workers get tossed to the side like pieces of litter! There’s a special place in Hell for these cut throat bums.”
– 1190 Shame

“To all of the union workers and front line shift managers, and to all of the union maintenance crews that kept the mill running all these years, keep your heads up. Be proud of what you did. You fought and kept these mills running without parts, manpower, and without the help from these idiots that ended up getting these bonuses. You guys did all of the grunt work on the worse shifts, the doubles, the holidays away from families, and the birthdays, anniversaries, missing friend’s weddings, and all sorts of missed events. . . If you didn’t learn from the bankruptcies of the past steel companies, learn from this new raping of the industry.”
– My2Cents

“Unbelievable again!!! Thousands of dedicated employees lose their jobs, they lose any unused but EARNED vacation time, can’t take comp time before they get booted, SIMPLY get a pat on the back that says, Thanks for contributing to our millions, now get the f*** out!! While these execs get to pocket money they truly don’t deserve, dare we say didn’t even work for!”
– Disgruntled Woman
____________________________________________
Inside City Hall: EWOs lurking in the depths

“EWO number 2 and the unit price more than doubled. I can’t wait to see what happens in number 3. Just give Spiniello the bank account numbers and a wire transfer allowance. At least it would save the cost of all the meetings and planning. Because why bother planning when the level of accuracy is. . . plus or minus 50%.”
– Bmorepanic

“The Mayor is correct there is a process in place for EWOs, they all get approved. It is a process.”
– p johnson

“I totally read this as Ewoks.”
– @petrnotail via Twitter