[rehab] Audit reveals questionable spending by Oregon Commission for the Blind, The Oregonian, May 8, 2009

[Nightingale, Noel]

Link:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/05/audit_reveals_questionable_spe.html

Text:
Audit reveals questionable spending by Oregon Commission for the Blind
by Michelle Cole, The Oregonian
Friday May 08, 2009

SALEM -- A new state audit identifies questionable expenditures by the Oregon Commission for the Blind, including the purchase of NFL jerseys, employee perks and a seven-day biking trip to the San Juan Islands.

The spending totaled $61,000 in public money, according to the secretary of state's audit division. But auditors also questioned whether an additional $1.4 million was spent prudently because competitive pricing procedures were not followed.

The mission of the Oregon Commission for the Blind is to help people who are blind or visually impaired find work and live self-sufficiently.

In March 2007, the state Audits Division received complaints alleging mismanagement at the agency. That kicked off a two-year audit. The subsequent report, to be released by the secretary of state today, identified several examples in which spending could not be tied to specific client needs:

-- In September 2006, the commission spent $12,000 for a weeklong camping and biking trip to the San Juan Islands. Of the 21 people on the trip, two were commission clients. The others were employees, former clients and volunteers.

-- The commission spent $700 on football jerseys and other football-themed items for a client's coffee cart. It also purchased a gym membership, a leather jacket and two bottles of cologne for other clients.

-- Auditors noted the commission "has established a pattern of providing unnecessary meals and refreshments" to staff. For example, they noted $5,100 spent on meals for a training and awards event in December 2006 at the Hotel Vintage Plaza in Portland. Another $3,100 was spent to give employees and others $50 gift cards during the awards event.

"Our concern had to do less with the dollar amount and more to do with the purpose," Drummond Kahn, Audits Division interim director, said Thursday. "What concerned us was that we were identifying patterns and individual cases of spending that appeared both unusual and disconnected from a client's plan."

Linda Mock, administrator for the commission, was not available Thursday.

Earlier this week, she submitted a nine-page response to the findings.

The commission has incorporated a number of recommendations contained in the report, Mock wrote.

She noted that the commission has frequently relied upon recreational activities to help people adjust to blindness. The San Juan trip "came about as a result of a deceased staff member who donated significant funds to the commission for this specific trip," she said. "Half of the participants on the bike trip were legally blind ... and were eligible to participate in the activity."

Mock said the $8,200 spent on the awards dinner followed state and federal guidelines. "The commission believes it is important to identify ways to recognize staff for their hard work and dedication to its mission."

-- Michelle Cole; michellecole at news.oregonian.com