… and Pat Bean is Sergeant Schultz
Back when they missed out on $2 million in federal grants, your Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners asked their auditors to take a look at the Hillsborough’s Affordable Housing Office (AHO). After seven months of digging around, the findings came out on Monday.
The results are not good. Excerpts are taken from the actual report:
… the County’s affordable housing assistance programs have historically been plagued with unprincipled management and business practices…
“Unprincipled management and business practices” sounds like a fancy way of saying that these people were clueless, and erred on the side of ‘whatever works best in my personal favor.’
They listed a few specific reasons…
So who do these people report to? Why, it’s County Administrator Pat Bean! What’d she have to say? Back to the report.
According to the County Administrator, she was unaware that the housing assistance program was in disrepair, the extent of poor performance during the 2004 to 2006 timeframe, or that the loss of funds announced in 2007 was a possibility until it was too late for her to take corrective action. It was not until funds were lost that she realized, questioned, and critiqued the performance of the housing agency.
I’m paraphrasing here, but Pat Bean basically told them “I know NOTHING!”
Hillsborough County’s Affordable Housing Office has a budget of about $35 million, and receives over $18 million annually in Federal and State grant funding to promote its programs. Acceptance of grant funds requires the County to practice good stewardship, to manage and operate programs effectively, and to comply with guidelines and regulations established by the grantor agencies.
Your County Administrator has reminded us more than once of all the grant money the AHO brings in, but hasn’t even bothered to go visit the department once in a while and find out if it was being used efficiently.
Meredith
1 year ago
What – no gift baskets? No extramarital affairs? No backroom deals with contractors to build private residences?
Sheesh, no wonder Pat Bean didn’t see any red flags.
Kelly
1 year ago
The article I saw praised Bean for jumping right on this! What a joke. I believe it was actually activist citizen Grandmother at Large, Marilyn Smith that brought it to the board’s attention!
Mariella
1 year ago
Good one, Tommy. This part of the auditor’s report kills me:
“Immediately”?! That’s the kind of crap you get from an INTERNAL auditor.
Look at that long list of serious problems that the auditor identified during the two-year period (2004 – 2006) which resulted in millions of dollars lost. That loss was finally announced (“surfaced”) late in 2007, and that’s when Bean FINALLY lumbered into action and “BEGAN immediately taking positive actions…”
Kelly
1 year ago
Doesn’t she make over $200,000 a year?
Pam
1 year ago
Don’t worry, Bean will investigate herself and find no wrong doing.
Watcher in the Woods
1 year ago
But wait! Queen Bean is the darlin’ of the BOCC! she’s so short, well dressed and just gosh darned cute…and she’s always rah rah-ing about this being the Best Darned County in the Whole Entire Universe. Can’t blame HER for not knowing what the heck is going on in this FUBAR Dept. After all — the buck doesn’t stop at the top…it stops..well..i guess it doesn’t really stop at all if the INTERNAL auditor says she IMMEDIATELY jumped on this massive screw up. What a crock. And so it goes.
I hope to heck that Comm White or Ferlita or SOMEone up there will hold her accountable. Sometime, somewhere, somehow she will have to take some responsibility. Right? Right?
Clyde
1 year ago
Competence? You’re looking for competence?? This is Florida, man! This is Hillsborough County, Florida, Man!! Political connections, man! Heck of a job, Beanie!! Sigh.