Kentucky Dismas' DISMAL Record.
Dismas' secrecy
State Auditor Crit Luallen's report on spending by Dismas Charities was a tremendous disappointment. That's not for anything Ms. Luallen has done. As usual, her efforts were straightforward and earnest. But what she discovered in attempting to audit Dismas was the same dismal wall that comes up too often in Kentucky when the public's business, and the taxpayer's money, are handled behind the curtain of private, non-profit corporations.
According to Ms. Luallen, the contract Dismas has with Kentucky — which amounts to $7 million in state funds each year to house prisoners in half-way houses — contains no language requiring the auditor to have access to records for review. Most state contracts have such language. (Most of the rest of Dismas' revenue comes from federal sources, so the public interest is clear.)
Last year Dismas got a black eye when The Courier-Journal reported that it had spent $92,000 to lease a luxury suite at the new KFC Yum! Center and $45,000 for a fancy box at the Papa John's Stadium. Though the organization gave up the suites, that kind of spending — as well as the salaries paid to its two top executives in 2008, which exceeded $1 million — continue to fuel suspicion and mistrust.
But this is not an isolated case. Again and again, private non-profits receiving taxpayer dollars have been exposed for living high on the hog. Included among them are the Kentucky League of Cities, the Kentucky Association of Counties and perhaps most of all Passport Health Services, which repeatedly resisted public scrutiny. Ms. Luallen's audit of Passport's finances eventually brought down the CEO as well as two top staffers.
In the cases of both Passport and Dismas Charities, records of solid public service are compromised by top-level excesses.
In ordinary times, such behavior would be unacceptable. In an era such as this, when vital services to many vulnerable Kentuckians are in jeopardy, it's outrageous. Why is Dismas being so secretive about its books and insensitive to its responsibilities to be completely open with the people who fund it?
Ms. Luallen has offered the evidence that many more answers are essential. Gov. Steve Beshear should step up to the plate and demand those answers.
State Auditor Crit Luallen's report on spending by Dismas Charities was a tremendous disappointment. That's not for anything Ms. Luallen has done. As usual, her efforts were straightforward and earnest. But what she discovered in attempting to audit Dismas was the same dismal wall that comes up too often in Kentucky when the public's business, and the taxpayer's money, are handled behind the curtain of private, non-profit corporations.
According to Ms. Luallen, the contract Dismas has with Kentucky — which amounts to $7 million in state funds each year to house prisoners in half-way houses — contains no language requiring the auditor to have access to records for review. Most state contracts have such language. (Most of the rest of Dismas' revenue comes from federal sources, so the public interest is clear.)
Last year Dismas got a black eye when The Courier-Journal reported that it had spent $92,000 to lease a luxury suite at the new KFC Yum! Center and $45,000 for a fancy box at the Papa John's Stadium. Though the organization gave up the suites, that kind of spending — as well as the salaries paid to its two top executives in 2008, which exceeded $1 million — continue to fuel suspicion and mistrust.
But this is not an isolated case. Again and again, private non-profits receiving taxpayer dollars have been exposed for living high on the hog. Included among them are the Kentucky League of Cities, the Kentucky Association of Counties and perhaps most of all Passport Health Services, which repeatedly resisted public scrutiny. Ms. Luallen's audit of Passport's finances eventually brought down the CEO as well as two top staffers.
In the cases of both Passport and Dismas Charities, records of solid public service are compromised by top-level excesses.
In ordinary times, such behavior would be unacceptable. In an era such as this, when vital services to many vulnerable Kentuckians are in jeopardy, it's outrageous. Why is Dismas being so secretive about its books and insensitive to its responsibilities to be completely open with the people who fund it?
Ms. Luallen has offered the evidence that many more answers are essential. Gov. Steve Beshear should step up to the plate and demand those answers.
Labels: Keeping them honest
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 7:29 AM
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