Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Hear no evil, see no evil, in the Arizona Historical Society

As reported in the January 3rd post, the AHS received unfavorable reviews by the Auditor General from 1995 through 2002.  The findings included the following:

  1. Insufficient internal control
  2. Improper procurement procedures
  3. Conflict of interest
  4. Board not assuming governance responsibility

So how was this resolved?

Incredibly, the March 6, 2001 JLBC Staff Memorandum (from Richard Stavneak, Director) includes the following on page 7 (italics added):

Historical Society, Arizona (p. 171)
FY 02 and FY 03 Changes to JLBC: None
Footnotes: House and Senate both added the following footnote:
The Executive Director shall provide monthly financial reports to the Board of
Directors of the Arizona Historical Society and the Director of the JLBC Staff.
Statutory Changes : House and Senate both added an Omnibus Reconciliation Bill
provision that includes the entire text of SB 1297. Senate Bill 1297 includes three
statutory changes. First, it eliminates the need for the Executive Director to get
Board approval before spending appropriated monies. Second, it allows the agency
to retain interest earned on the Journal of Arizona History Fund. Third, it allows the
agency to retain interest earned on the Permanent Arizona Historical Society
Revolving Fund.

Now that is a truly creative piece of legislative work. Since the Board of Directors in not doing their job, simply relieve them of one of their major responsibilities.

What ever shortcomings our elected leaders may have, we cannot say they do not have imagination.

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