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| O'Fallon Watchdog |
Exposing Corruption, Injustices and the Truth.
Audit report won't be televised
By Latreecia Wade
Saturday, January 19, 2008 1:16 PM CST
The state auditor's office will present the results of a seven-month audit of St. Peters during a special meeting Wednesday
- a meeting that won't be televised, despite some residents' requests.
"This is a community thing, a very important meeting and this is the first time something like this was done in St. Peters,"
resident Ed Appelbaum said Thursday.
State Auditor Susan Montee is expected to deliver a report about the audit at 7 p.m. Wednesday in activity rooms A
through D at St. Peters City Hall, located at 1 St. Peters Centre Blvd.The audit came as a result of a resident petition that
garnered 2,786 signatures. The audit began May 29, 2007, and lasted through December, said Lisa Bedian, a city
spokeswoman.
Appelbaum said he and other residents have wanted the city to be audited for a long time.
"We went through one administration with (former mayor) Tom Brown and we have never had a state audit," he said. "We
thought (subsequent former mayor) Shawn Brown was going to start one, but that didn't happen."
Appelbaum and Sandy Waters, another city resident, requested during the Jan. 10 Board of Aldermen meeting that the
city televise the audit meeting.
"As a member of the audit committee, I would like to ask that it be televised," Waters told the board. "The public will (only)
get a snippet from the newspapers."
During the meeting, Mayor Len Pagano said he was not sure if the audit meeting could be televised or taped by the city
because it is being led by the auditor's office.
"This is their meeting and not the mayor or any aldermen's. We will be sitting in the (same) seats (as other city residents),"
Pagano said. "I am not sure how this will work. We have to ask the auditor."
On Friday, city officials release a statement announcing that the audit meeting would not be televised.
That statement read:
"Because the state Auditor's meeting is not a city-sponsored or -run event, we legally cannot provide the televising and
recording services at no charge. We agreed to televise the presentation when requested to do so by the auditor, however,
we advised them we would have to charge for the service.
"Over the years we have not provided free video services for a non-city-sponsored event. It is our understanding that the
meeting merely serves to announce the availability of the detailed report and allows the opportunity for questions to be
asked of the auditor."
Samantha Brewer, a spokeswoman for the auditor's office, said Thursday said the auditor's office would have no problem
with televising the meeting. But the city's statement said "the state auditor's office advised us in writing that they 'cannot
authorize state resources to be used to tape this meeting.'"
The cities of O'Fallon and St. Charles televised their state audit meetings, which were separate from regular city council
meetings, officials from those cities said.
The city must pay for the audit, which is expected to cost about $20,000, Brewer said.
Alice Fast and Carl Zilch, representatives with the state auditor's office, met with Pagano and members of the board in
December when the audit report was drafted. That meeting gave city officials the opportunity to ask questions and make
comments about anything they wanted clarified in the draft, Brewer said. Their remarks became a part of the final audit
report.
"I am very pleased with the audit and I think that you will be, too," Pagano said during the Jan. 10 board meeting.
Alderman Don Aytes, Ward 4, said he is looking forward to the audit meeting.
"I think you'll see a lot of smiles when the auditor reads the audit," he said.
Appelbaum said because city officials seem confident about the audit's outcome, they should be willing to share it with
residents via television.
"If it's a positive report, then all the more reason for the city to televise the findings," Appelbaum said. "It seems like they
are making a mountain out of a molehill."
Pagano said Thursday that he had no objections to televising the meeting.
"I don't care if it's televised or not, but it's the state's meeting," he said.
Appelbaum said that if the meeting were televised, residents who might not be able to make the meeting could watch it at
their leisure.
"The taxpayers paid for this audit and it would be a great time for them to ask questions of the state officials," Appelbaum
said.
Free copies of the auditor's report will be available at City Hall after the meeting, and officials plan to have a link to the
auditor's report on the city's Web site, www.stpetersmo.net.
To comment, visit suburbanjournals.stltoday.com.
WANT TO GO?
What: State Auditor Susan Montee will deliver a report about her office's audit of St. Peters
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Where: activity rooms A through D at St. Peters City Hall, 1 St. Peters Centre Blvd.
By Latreecia Wade
Saturday, January 19, 2008 1:16 PM CST
The state auditor's office will present the results of a seven-month audit of St. Peters during a special meeting Wednesday
- a meeting that won't be televised, despite some residents' requests.
"This is a community thing, a very important meeting and this is the first time something like this was done in St. Peters,"
resident Ed Appelbaum said Thursday.
State Auditor Susan Montee is expected to deliver a report about the audit at 7 p.m. Wednesday in activity rooms A
through D at St. Peters City Hall, located at 1 St. Peters Centre Blvd.The audit came as a result of a resident petition that
garnered 2,786 signatures. The audit began May 29, 2007, and lasted through December, said Lisa Bedian, a city
spokeswoman.
Appelbaum said he and other residents have wanted the city to be audited for a long time.
"We went through one administration with (former mayor) Tom Brown and we have never had a state audit," he said. "We
thought (subsequent former mayor) Shawn Brown was going to start one, but that didn't happen."
Appelbaum and Sandy Waters, another city resident, requested during the Jan. 10 Board of Aldermen meeting that the
city televise the audit meeting.
"As a member of the audit committee, I would like to ask that it be televised," Waters told the board. "The public will (only)
get a snippet from the newspapers."
During the meeting, Mayor Len Pagano said he was not sure if the audit meeting could be televised or taped by the city
because it is being led by the auditor's office.
"This is their meeting and not the mayor or any aldermen's. We will be sitting in the (same) seats (as other city residents),"
Pagano said. "I am not sure how this will work. We have to ask the auditor."
On Friday, city officials release a statement announcing that the audit meeting would not be televised.
That statement read:
"Because the state Auditor's meeting is not a city-sponsored or -run event, we legally cannot provide the televising and
recording services at no charge. We agreed to televise the presentation when requested to do so by the auditor, however,
we advised them we would have to charge for the service.
"Over the years we have not provided free video services for a non-city-sponsored event. It is our understanding that the
meeting merely serves to announce the availability of the detailed report and allows the opportunity for questions to be
asked of the auditor."
Samantha Brewer, a spokeswoman for the auditor's office, said Thursday said the auditor's office would have no problem
with televising the meeting. But the city's statement said "the state auditor's office advised us in writing that they 'cannot
authorize state resources to be used to tape this meeting.'"
The cities of O'Fallon and St. Charles televised their state audit meetings, which were separate from regular city council
meetings, officials from those cities said.
The city must pay for the audit, which is expected to cost about $20,000, Brewer said.
Alice Fast and Carl Zilch, representatives with the state auditor's office, met with Pagano and members of the board in
December when the audit report was drafted. That meeting gave city officials the opportunity to ask questions and make
comments about anything they wanted clarified in the draft, Brewer said. Their remarks became a part of the final audit
report.
"I am very pleased with the audit and I think that you will be, too," Pagano said during the Jan. 10 board meeting.
Alderman Don Aytes, Ward 4, said he is looking forward to the audit meeting.
"I think you'll see a lot of smiles when the auditor reads the audit," he said.
Appelbaum said because city officials seem confident about the audit's outcome, they should be willing to share it with
residents via television.
"If it's a positive report, then all the more reason for the city to televise the findings," Appelbaum said. "It seems like they
are making a mountain out of a molehill."
Pagano said Thursday that he had no objections to televising the meeting.
"I don't care if it's televised or not, but it's the state's meeting," he said.
Appelbaum said that if the meeting were televised, residents who might not be able to make the meeting could watch it at
their leisure.
"The taxpayers paid for this audit and it would be a great time for them to ask questions of the state officials," Appelbaum
said.
Free copies of the auditor's report will be available at City Hall after the meeting, and officials plan to have a link to the
auditor's report on the city's Web site, www.stpetersmo.net.
To comment, visit suburbanjournals.stltoday.com.
WANT TO GO?
What: State Auditor Susan Montee will deliver a report about her office's audit of St. Peters
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Where: activity rooms A through D at St. Peters City Hall, 1 St. Peters Centre Blvd.
Watchdog Response: The City of St Peters should televise the audit results. Those citizens who are handicapped, elderly,
ill or who work a night-shift may not be able to attend the live meeting. The city will broadcast the OLD TYME PICNIC but
they choose not to broadcast the audit results. It is the citizens business how our tax dollars are being spent. Open
Transparent Government is what we should demand. St Charles televised their Audit results as did O’Fallon. Every effort
should be made to ensure this is done in St Peters . If not we should question why?
St. Peters Watchdogs beware. When the state auditor came to O'Fallon they only confirmed what a local citizen group who
called for the audit already informed them about. They failed to uncover anything new even though they extended their time
in O'Fallon. Makes you wonder how hard they looked for wrong doing?
ill or who work a night-shift may not be able to attend the live meeting. The city will broadcast the OLD TYME PICNIC but
they choose not to broadcast the audit results. It is the citizens business how our tax dollars are being spent. Open
Transparent Government is what we should demand. St Charles televised their Audit results as did O’Fallon. Every effort
should be made to ensure this is done in St Peters . If not we should question why?
St. Peters Watchdogs beware. When the state auditor came to O'Fallon they only confirmed what a local citizen group who
called for the audit already informed them about. They failed to uncover anything new even though they extended their time
in O'Fallon. Makes you wonder how hard they looked for wrong doing?