03/05/13
Loudoun Schools and The Compliant Loudoun Courts To Citizens: Don’t Bother Us For “Public” Information, Just Trust Us
By Loudoun Insider
Be sure to read the comments. Just as with the absolutely ridiculous Board of Equalization FOIA case, the few citizens who dare to care get shit all over by the “public servants” who their tax dollars pay for, and the courts who are supposed to administer “justice”.
The citizens of Loudoun County have completely ceded control of their government and all of its institutions: the Board of Supervisors, School Board, Board of Equalization, Circuit Court and General District Court, to greedy and unprincipled phonies posing as public officials and employees and propped up by those who want control of the revenue stream of the richest county in the United States. It gets worse and worse because there is no attempt to expunge the detritus from public trust. There is no investigation and no prosecution and anyone who asks fof it it is publicly ridiculed, discredited, or fired.
You can tell who the honest ones are: the ones who quit their county jobs or get fired, lose lawsuits against a hopelessly entitled School Administration, and are ridiculed by the very slime balls they call out as the bad actors they are. The government in this county is corrupt. Everybody knows it.
The judges are just as bad. Nepotism got this undistinguished person appointed even though she has no experience. She is ideally suited to take Loudoun’s low judicial standards even lower than the impossibly low standard set by Judges Cannon, Horne and Cahill. They don’t listen or apply the law to the facts. They just reflexively find for their friends who appointed them. Judkins is getting wealthy off the School Board and her chummy relationship with certain judges.
Four years since a retired Army officer was murdered in Lansdowne and the perpetrator has never been prosecuted.
What a sad and pathetic group of incompetents. They bring shame on the people who elect and appoint them.
Just a few of the questions i would have asked Mr Yetter:
1. Has there been discussions or proposals to update the 30 year old software that requires a day to audit $2M of LCPS transactions incurred over the last 5-6 years?
2. Do MGT or any other internal or external audit look at LCPS expenditures at the level of detail requested by Ms Stinger?
3. Since Dr Adamo’s department has spent $2M on western Loudoun search efforts since 2006 (Grubb proposal),and seems fair there are many other areas where he has been searching and spending money evaluating, WHY has that NOT been reflected in his budget history?
4. What departments did the funds come from?
5. Are inter-department transfers common? Or is Adamo the primary requester? Who approves those transfers, since such transfers were not in the approved budget?
Questions Supervisors should ask Dr Hatrick before approving he budget:
1. What contract categories exceeding $50k do not go through School Boatd approval?
2. How many former employees are being paid over $50k per year for consulting or temporary assignments? Are those hires approved by the School Board?
3. What budget pays Bancroft and McGavin (Judkins firm)?
4. Why are you using such an outdated encumbered software package to track expenditures and budget transfers, is such accounting not a priority for you?
Contact the U.S. Department of Education – Office of the Inspector General
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/hotline.html
“Four years since a retired Army officer was murdered in Lansdowne and the perpetrator has never been prosecuted. ”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-state-of-nova/post/woman-describes-aftermath-of-loudoun-attack/2011/08/24/gIQAetrfbJ_blog.html
I’m guessing you missed this, notimpressed. Or maybe since the system is so corrupt, they just sentenced the guy without ever actually PROSECUTING him. or are you saying he really isn’t the guy? Did school staff really do it, maybe as part of the NCC/Lex 7 controversy?
Well, here’s hoping they get the FBI moved here as quickly as possible so they can be on full alert at all times for all things Loudoun.
auditor’s questions just posted–Grubb went through process in 06–the studies (and thus expenditures) predate the actual vote process.
I got the impression from the news articles that the cost Stinger balked at included retrieving info from a system that HAS been updated. I’d want both, since it’s a good idea to compare originals with transfers–wasn’t that the purpose of the FOIA flurry in the new anti-Delgaudio pac?
After all the drama over western sites I can easily see 2M in 10 years with nothing to show for it–that’s the point for some of the activists too. Don’t forget to add legal costs, btw–that pumps it at a rate commensurate with enviro study, wetland mitigation, multiple traffic studies, meetings, protests…
Ms Munsey – If you read the L2D article it states, “Thomas Yetter, director of the school district’s Financial Services Department, told the court in order to get the requested information, a senior accountant would have to extract it from a 30-year-old software system called FAMIS, then format it into an Excel document to be emailed. He estimated the effort would take a full work day. It’s not just, push a button and get the data out,” Yetter said.
30-year old software that requires 1 day to trace and reconcile a measly $2M HARDLY sounds updated. Auditor makes an interesting point, if it takes 1 day to reconcile a tiny fraction of expenditures made over the last 7-10 years by one department – how can taxpayers have ANY assurance that LCPS staff are not siphoning money from the system?
Then why are they spending so much money on expensive IT toys like white boards and iPads?
I read both papers’ articles, and I’ve followed this for years–I actually sat on the dais when one of the sites came to a public hearing about seven years ago.
When Adamo states in the article “his department has spent between $1.7 million and $2 million searching for land for future schools in western Loudoun with nothing to show for it.”, I do not find it at all hard to believe, given that some sites went all the way through staff search and prep, school board approval, staff review at the county, planning commission review, and BoS review before being voted down–ALL of which is public cost, with nothing to show for it if no school site results from the multi-year effort.
Add in that FOIA cannot compel documents to be created–if Stinger’s request required a variety of non-synthesized material to be produced in order to provide all info desired, that is how the info will come, often at increased cost, especially if some of it is housed in a form that has since been superceded.
She went to court, she has the right to do so, it lost. Does it mean school staff are now embezzlers? Take it to court. You have the right.
p.s.–and be sure to note what it costs to answer your suit.
Seems pretty obvious the cost of discovery would be astronomical.
p.s. Ms Munsey – What FAMIS update are you referring to?
not necessarily any–again, back to the article, extraction from FAMIS, format to Excel, transmit via email as requested–which could stray close to creating documents (which is NOT compelled under law), as the info apparently did not exist as an excel spreadsheet. However, it appears they did not make that argument, but responded to her assumption that it would be easier to do it her way. Could be, given the history.
But then we get what actually went to court, in that her decision to offer $90 for something they said cost $400 did not prevail.
Which is proof of corruption?
Maybe. Perhaps that too will go to court. I don’t know how the 2011 Board of Education complaint went, but the link is provided to lobby them again.
We’ll see.
Maybe it’s time Loudoun parents get together to form a LCPS Taxpayer Activist Group for Accountability. The same overpriced FOIA charges were applied from Byard and DeVito in the recent School rezoning lawsuit. The first FIOA was about $16 but then shot up to ranges of $2,000+ with most costing between $250 – $400. Many of the higher costing FOIA requests contained similar amount of copies produced in $16 FOIA request. When questioned about the high charges, it was documented that the charges were for lawyer review fees (which is against FIOA regulations). When this was pointed out to LCPS they just removed the lawyer review language from the quote but the price remained the same.
Ms munsy,
You stated, “retrieving info from a system that HAS been updated”
What updated system were you talking about?
Paul, your quote truncates what I said: “I got the impression from the news articles that the cost Stinger balked at included retrieving info from a system that HAS been updated”. Nowhere do I state that an impression I received from reading the article is proof that a system has been updated.
In a subsequent comment I said: “if Stinger’s request required a variety of non-synthesized material to be produced in order to provide all info desired, that is how the info will come, often at increased cost, especially if some of it is housed in a form that has since been superceded.” Again, using “if” does not translate to what you are ascribing to me.
If you wish to focus on what you think I said, other than the fact that a FOIA charge was disputed in court and the school system was not found to be at fault in requesting the charge, have at it.
My opinion does nothing to change what was decided in court.
Ms Munsy said, ” especially if some of it is housed in a form that has since been superceded.”
Superseded by what?
The Leesburg Today article says Yetter testified the data is in a 30-year system.
You would think a Government Reform Commission member would be more interested in figuring out how to get public information to the taxpaying public more efficiently and cost effectively.
a 30-year old software system, yes. That it would apparently cost around $400 to retrieve info from, change into another format, and email, which the judge apparently found no proof to the contrary.
Where does my saying “IF” mean that the 30 year old system has been updated?
Is FAMIS the only source for data requested? Unclear from the article, and coverage of this also states that several clarifications were agreed upon between the system and Stinger before refining the request from its initial demand for “all”.
“All” is a lot of ground to cover, particularly on Adamo’s broad statement that he believes they’ve spent close to 2M with nothing to show for it. My position is that I’m certainly not surprised, given the Loudoun way for (not) getting things done.
Not a GRC issue LI, but as always, nice try with the stock response.
Sarah had her day in court. She did not prevail. It’s all a huge corrupt conspiracy.
As I said, thank god the FBI might be getting closer to relocating to what should be their sole focus.
Next?
Unbelievable, you would think a staunch “reformer” like Munsey would be all over this. The Loudoun courts hardly ever rule against the ruling class, this was not surprising at all, just like the ridiculous Board of Equalization case.
LI, the GRC’s process is interesting. I’ve always thought that when looking at government, you’d look for the big opportunities for savings or service improvements, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. What’s the biggest expense in Government? People of course. While the GRC has looked into public safety quite extensively, they can’t seem to do a comparison between other surrounding counties and this one when it comes to shifts and staffing. Take fire and rescue as an example. From what I know of Loudoun’s 24 hour fire / rescue staffing model, they could reduce the 24 hour shift headcount by 25% with no change to service levels simply by adopting the schedule that most other counties in this region use. I have to think a 25% reduction could be quite substantial…
(Fairfax and Arlington, for example, utilize three platoons which work rotating 24 hour shifts to provide coverage for each station. In Loudoun, for stations that are fully staffed by LC employees, they utilize 4 shifts to do the same thing.)
I’m sure there are other big-ticket items the GRC could find if they cared to look…
Job 1: Elminate from his position of public trust the “managing shareholder” of the Loudoun office of the biggest land use law firm in the area.
http://www.thelandlawyers.com/contact-us/loudoun/
“The firm’s Land Use & Zoning practice group handles the processes of preparing, submitting, articulating, and defending our client’s applications before the appropriate local government staff, planning commissioners, local legislative bodies, and concerned community members.”
From “Leesburg Today”
House of Delegates, 10th District
Democrat Monte Johnson hopes to unseat Republican Del. Randy Minchew.
Johnson, 31, made headlines in Loudoun County last year as chair of African Americans for Obama, which helped in the president’s campaign effort. He said he decided to run because of the county’s current representatives in Richmond are focused partisan politics.
“Why is the legislature focusing on divisive issues when there are real issues, like expansion, transportation and jobs, they haven’t adequately addressed,” he said. “…I believe people need a voice in the legislature that responds to their needs and concerns rather than get bogged down in partisan ideology.”
Johnson works as a project manager at Booz Allen Hamilton.
Perhaps Ms. Munsey could apply for the position to succeed Mr. Maurer on the Board of Equalization. That would refresh her data base with some new material. She could even start her own blog, “Rock and Roll from Dais with Barbara,” thus freeing this one from her free-flowing and iron-fisted declarations of moral superiority drawn from her vast institutional knowledge of any topic that besmirches the fine reputation of Loudoun’s local government.
prag, the GRC exists at the pleasure of the BoS, and is directly tasked with issues. If there is something you would like to see the BoS add to the list, you should suggest it to your supervisor.
LI, as I said, huge conspiracy. Etc. Looks like “indy” has the answer.
FAMIS (used by both LCPS and LCG) is currently being replaced by a new ERP (Oracle, I think). This was discussed by the GRC during its Assessor discussion. I believe it is expected to “go live” sometime this year.
Perhaps Sarah S. should have begun her document search by requesting the documents Sam received to come up with his estimate and any documents given to the School Board to support his estimate — because either the FAMIS run has already been done for him (and therefore don’t need to be run separately for Sarah S.), there’s an email/memo/phone call note providing the info, or the numbers have no documented basis in reality. Either way, the answer to that question should be enlightening for the School Board members who care.
Deborah Welsh — former Purcellville Town Attorney, sponsor of the Courthouse Creche — once more in the headlines. Can we say GOBGN?
Auditor,
Love your questiions!
Barbara,
You are a GRC member, no?
I thought that committee wanted more cooperation from Hatrick regarding potentially merging duplic functions. Is that correct? Are you personally in favor of such an evaluation, to see what the savings could be?
What was your vote on Grubb anyway, I don’t remember as that was before I got involved.
I’ll post the FOIA request so you can see, I asked for “all” transactions related to Adamo’s statement because Byard only provided data since 2011 which was way below $1.7-$2M. I asked him to please call me so we could talk about my request. I asked to speak with their finance staff so we could talk about my request. I asked DeVita for help with working things out. I called Byard too but he hung up on me. I requested the data in whatever form used in their regular course of business. Byard said they don’t give out raw data (no FOIA exclusion cited for not giving raw data).
And for the record, we just want future schools in/near our community. Not a specific site, just near so the kids aren’t on a bus for 2-3 hours a day. I would hope as a parent that you understand that. Several different opportunities in/near the Town have been offered for millions less, it has been Adamo that wanted a particular site at a grossly inflated price; approved a $400,000 groundwater study without the School Boards authoriza or even one other competitive bid: and he approved vendor improving the sellers land NOT under contract without any written justification.
If you really see no problem with some of that or see fair reason for concern then, based in your past activism, I think you would qualify as a hypocrite.
I have been a subject matter expert for FAMIS, a financial system that specifically captures grants and funds accounting. It was created by KPMG Peat Marwick and marketed to a number of federal and state (including local) government agencies. I was a lead consultant to integrate this system to Washington DC government. The age of FAMIS does not have relevance to extracting information. Given certain parameters this system retrieves information from its history files like any other financial /accounting system. “Formatting” information to Excel can be done by a low level clerk, or even raw data can be provided.
Sarah, yes, I’m on the GRC. Site aquisition for western Loudoun schools is not on the task list.
I’ve read your things for years, thank you.
And I remain firm in my opinion that, having lived here for nearly 16 years now and NEVER seen a suggested site for a school in the western county that has not been greeted with near-hysteria, it would be entirely plausible for LCPS to have spent 2M looking for a place to put schools and yes, have nothing to show for it.
I see no reason for a new firestorm of recycled conspiracy theories based on your loss in court. And as that has been my opinion for the last few runs of this particular play, neither would I call that opinion hypocritical.
Loudoun’s Soul: What is Judge Welch’s trial experience? Has she disclosed her connections with seated judges of the 20th Circuit?
Barbara,
I didn’t ask you about GRC and western land, I asked about whether GRC was getting full cooperation by LCPS on study of merging any functions. It’s a fair question. But you don’t need to answer if you don’t want. You sit on a County Committee but don’t have any obligation to share your opinion with the public.
Somehow you missed MCDonough’s extremely broad support. Sally Kurtz and Jim Burton asked the Town for rheir support. Even John Wood later got a tour of it and the Town by proud then-Mayor Walker. When it was offered in 2009 and again in 2010 (signed contracts on the table for 16+ months) by the owners, the price of Adamo’s nirvana dropped dramatically. Really Barbara, that’s not like you to blip on pertinent details.
NI –
Can’t speak to her trial experience and I’m not aware of any disclosure, but then I haven’t looked for any. But, now my curiosity is piqued, so I may go see what I can find.
Sarah, one thing followed by the committee is not discussing business it is tasked with on blogs, so no, I won’t be discussing merged functions in this medium.
Not “blipping” on McDonough–I remember it, as well as the differing stories on who spoke for whom, who represented whom, and so on. Kind of like your difference with the Lovettsville business group, where you were asked to withdraw your claim that they officially supported you, and your reply was that the previous president had “made a commitment”, and the new president was obviously a good ole boy member of the continuing conspiracy against you by pointing out no official position had been taken.
I remember it all Sarah, and as I said, the fact that your suit did not produce the result you wish does not change my opinions on the endless conspiracy.
Barbara,
There must be some other Lovettsville in your alternate universe because nothing you just said makes any sense. That is except for the reasonable GRC rule against blogging about business. Carry on.
The only alternative universe(s) I am referencing are previous ones of yours. Also including land swaps with no land to swap for a bonded park, and advocating for the Miller property until they apparently sent a letter saying it was not for sale. While some of the news articles are no longer supported media (and thus their comments are memory-holed), a LOT is still out there, and very little different from the current replay, at least in terms of emotion.
I am also on the GRC. I was on the subcommittee tasked with looking at County Government/LCPS consolidation of services. I also attended one of, if not the only, meeting to occur between GRC and LCPS staff.
Dr. Hatrick made it quite clear that he has no intention of working AT ALL with the GRC on ANYTHING. His responses to our requests were, in my opinion, dismissive and insulting.
I am in the process of drafting the GRC’s final response to the BoS/SB about this issue and where we recommend it goes from here.
For clarification, this is my personal opinion and does not reflect the opinion of the GRC as a whole.
As a final comment, and I’ve said it before, there will NEVER be any change in LCPS until Dr. Hatrick is gone. It doesn’t matter who is on the School Board.
vacliff, Agreed!
Since Adamo’s department has spent $2M on western Loudoun search efforts since about the time of the Grubb studies, and since we know during that time he he has been searching other areas of the County and spending money to evaluate those options, the School Board and Supervisors (considering the SB’s budget) should be asking…..WHY have those expenditures NOT been reflected in Adamo’s budget history? Is similar accounting being applied to other departments?
The School Board would have cause to not renew Hatrick’s contract if for no other reason than such misrepresentations on his recommended budget. And your stated observation of his intention provides further cause.
I just released some older comments from Wind Sock and Jay From Sterling in the comment thread above.
Thank you for posting the very interesting comments. Please send my email address to Jay from Sterling and ask him if I may ask him some FAMIS questions. I have submitted a new FOIA req and his knowledge could prove quite helpful.