COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY BOARD MEMBERS FINED; PROBLEMS REMAIN WITH FINANCIAL BOOKS

Board members of the Polk County Opportunity Council, the local community action agency which is best known for running the area's Head Start programme, were fined $250 plus court costs Thursday for violating the state's Government In the Sunshine Law when they recessed an open monthly meeting last September and met privately in another room to discuss how to deal with their executive director.

The Lakeland Ledger reminds us of what happened:

In December 2004, [former executive director Carolyn] Speed was criticized for her controversial acceptance of a trip to Las Vegas, paid for by a copier company. She was forced to resign in November 2005 amid that and other controversies.

After the closed meeting, the board members eventually came back and voted to give a letter of admonishment to Speed.

The State Attorney's Office began investigating the incident following a Ledger report of the secret meeting.

Although Judge Anne Kaylor said to the board members that she would absolve them if she could, her actions were correct in that they violated the law. It doesn't matter wheather it was done willfully or intentionally; it was done.

But that's not the only matter they need to be concerned about.

The Polk County Opportunity Council still hasn't solved the problem that has repeatedly attracted state and federal regulators: Financial accounting is still inaccurate or incomplete.

The assertion that the books were $400,000 out of whack, which is disputed by PCOC, was made Thursday evening at a local PCOC meeting by the state Department of Community Affairs and by the Mid-Iowa Community Action team, which contracted with the DCA to help PCOC identify and fix problems...

Foster Lovett, a Tampa CPA who contracts with PCOC, said MICA auditors visited PCOC in January, and the assertion of incomplete bookkeeping may have been correct then. But he said that the books are now balanced and correct through February.

The apparent problem is when Lovett isn't around, the job doesn't get done. Board members pointed out that the agency is without financial stability because it has had five finance directors in the past five years.

The job is currently vacant.

PCOC is already under a one year probation for it's financial incompetance, and was informed last evening that it needs to either hire MICA to work with the agency to resolve it's problems or risk being disbanded. With that ultimatum, the board voted 11-1 to do so.

Personally, I believe that maybe disbanding PCOC would be the best thing to do. Their board doesn't seem to be paying attention to what's going on, and/or getting bad advice from staff who believe that everything's AOK. The school district is ready and willing to take over Head Start, and it's other programmes could be handed off to other agencies or organizations. It's simply time to end the incompetence among the administrative staff and board of PCOC, now.