CM PRESS # 362

COSTA MESA TO RECONSIDER USING FIRM THAT AUDITED BELL?
Link

State says the firm that audited Bell just rubber stamped Bell's books. Costa Mesa uses that same firm.

As you probably know (and you'll see this again in our column below this one), the CM PRESS has constantly railed against the rubber stamping that we see going on in Costa Mesa government, so we're all in favor of the City starting with a new auditing firm that hasn't been accused of rubber stamping books.

You may have heard this joke about a company president (CP) interviewing accountants.

CP to first applicant: How much is two plus two?
FA:  Four.
CP to second applicant: How much is two plus two?
SA:  Four.
CP to third applicant: How much is two plus two?
TA: How much do you want it to be?
CP to third applicant:  You're hired.
#                  #                         #

COMMERCIAL FUNDRAISERS POCKET MILLIONS MEANT FOR CHARITIES

Link

Things are even worse than reported in the above linked OC REGISTER article. 

As a former member of Costa Mesa's 3R Committee (I'm the one who got the committee to start looking at the tax returns of the charities--something the committee had never done before), I saw huge salaries of some involved with the charities receiving our tax money laundered through the City Council.

And, in other documents I saw what appeared to be racial/ethnic discrimination from some of the charities and hints that our money was going to make illegal aliens feel wanted and comfortable in Costa Mesa.

In addition, as I recently reported, I saw how money given to some charities was actually going to overhead, but which was disguised as "services."

Here's the frustrating part of this.  I told the City Council repeatedly that many 3R Committee members were acting as pals of the charities instead of like junkyard dog protecting our money and making sure it was spent wisely and in ways to most benefit Costa Mesa.

My whistle blowing fell on deaf ears, and various Councils then just rubber stamped the recommendations from the 3R Committee.

The closest any Councilmember came to questioning the charities was when Allan Mansoor asked some of them if they could provide evidence that their efforts had helped Costa Mesa.

The usual answer was always something along the lines of there being no way to quantify the help given to make a difference in a "child's" life.

And, when Mansoor pointed out the rising crime rate around the neighborhoods where some of the charities were located, the charity bosses would say things such as: "That's not our fault, and if we weren't there, the crime rate would be higher."  Proof of this assertion?  There was none.

However, neighborhoods just a little further away from the charities had lower crime rates.
 #             #                          #
Those are our opinions.  Thanks for reading them.