Reports to address First 5 spending questions
Bakersfield Californian 1/20/07
Both reports will be discussed at a special commission meeting Feb. 26.
In the meantime, here's more on the questions that should be addressed in the reports and latest information from recent public meetings.
Contract-itis
First 5 Kern commissioners have routinely approved contracts, including Cal State's, without ever looking at them.
After recent scrutiny of the Cal State deal, it may have seemed a no-brainer for commissioners to check out project details themselves before signing off.
At the commission's last meeting Dec. 6, Esther Brandon, one of nine commissioners, requested a procedural change so the group would look over contracts, including budgets, before voting on them.
"I want to see what we are paying for," Brandon said.
The motion came after more than a month of public debate and approval of two outside investigations into questionable use of some of the millions First 5 Kern spent since entering a research contract with Cal State in 2001, including a car allowance for the head researcher, new computers that can't all be accounted for and several seaside retreats.
Yet two of Brandon's colleagues voted against the idea. A third worried the commission was overstepping its role with the request.
Brandon's motion did eventually pass.
But with investigation results coming soon, it's not clear whether the volunteer commission has the skills or backbone to carry out its so-called "fiduciary responsibilities" -- the financial savvy and independence needed to govern distribution of about $10 million to $12 million a year in state tobacco-tax money.
It's also unclear how closely county supervisors, who largely control the commission's membership, are keeping tabs on the group's proceedings.
Early words
Consider, for example, comments from the supervisors' Nov. 14 meeting.
"I know when I appoint my board members and commissioners, that's usually the thing that I talk about, is fiduciary responsibility," Supervisor Ray Watson told colleagues, adding that "some people on these boards and commissions frankly don't have the background to do that."
Board members agreed the difference between First 5 commissioners and appointees to most other groups -- such as parks committees and aging commissions -- is that First 5 commissioners are legally responsible for a large stream of public funds.
Supervisor Jon McQuiston confirmed with county lawyers that the commissioners, not First 5's executive director, have authority over the independent public agency's checkbook.
"The ultimate ... fiscal responsibility rests with the commission," McQuiston said.
"Absolutely," answered Bernard Barmann, the county's top lawyer. "The commission is in charge, and the executive director works for them."
Then-Chairwoman Barbara Patrick was disappointed state law doesn't require someone with financial expertise to sit on the commission.
She also worried commissioners had given away their contracting authority to the executive director.
"One of the things that is of concern to me is whether or not the commission approves these contracts," said Patrick, now retired.
"Any contract," she said, "needs to come back to that commission so that they are indeed responsible for the terms."
Patrick's appointee, Esther Brandon, floated that let's-see-our-own-contracts motion at First 5's next meeting.
It passed, but not unanimously.
McQuiston's appointee, Mary Barlow, ultimately voted for the change but squirmed during the discussion.
"I want to be very cautious about moving into a position where we're going beyond the scope and the role of the commission and getting into the actual management," said Barlow, superintendent of Kernville Union School District in Lake Isabella.
The two commissioners who voted against seeing contracts were Watson's appointee, Roland Maier, a school principal in Taft, and Dr. B.A. Jinadu, head of the county's public health department. Neither explained their vote during the meeting.
Jinadu, who holds a permanent spot on the commission and currently serves as chairman, voted "no" even after sitting through and speaking during the supervisors' November discussion -- as well as many previous sessions involving First 5.
Check, please
One task that's been given to financial auditors is to determine whether some of the Cal State researchers' spending should have -- not could have, simply because something was within the budget -- been paid with First 5 money.
They've been asked to say whether researchers' expenses were "necessary, reasonable and in the best interests of children" in Kern County.
On top of the $3 million Kern's commission spent is another $2 million or so from five other valley First 5 agencies that, for a time, joined Kern's evaluation contract with Cal State.
Whether the auditors will go through the same receipts -- more than 3,500 pages worth -- Cal State officials provided to The Californian isn't yet known.
If they do, they'll find plenty to chew on.
Here are a few samples from our stack:
* Head researcher Kenneth Nyberg submitted a nearly $460 Internet bill in December 2004 for charges he incurred in London on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
More than 46 hours of international hookup time were apparently OK'd because "Nyberg was conducting business from there," a handwritten note on his check request says.
* A bill for more than $5,700 from Office Depot in April 2005 that included more than $4,000 worth of toner.
* A $228 stapler bought in April 2005.
* Nyberg expensed $467 to First 5 -- this one paid by Tulare County's commission -- for an overnight trip that included a dinner meeting.
The bill for five from the Vintage Press Restaurant in Visalia ran more than $347 -- almost $70 a head.
The agenda consisted of these four items: 1. Overview of evaluation; 2. Current strengths; 3. Current weaknesses; 4. Next steps.
* Nyberg billed First 5 about $365 for a three-day trip to Bishop in April 2003.
Purpose of the trip?
"Retreat planning," according to his travel claim.
* $31.25 to redesign Nyberg's business card in March 2006.
Answers incoming?
A pair of investigations into the research contract are currently under way. One is focused on data quality, the other on finances:
* Cal State officials hired Susan Enguidanos, a social and health services researcher from the Los Angeles area, to evaluate the possibly flawed research.
Her report should be ready by the end of the month, a campus official said, but it is scheduled to be heard by the commission at the special meeting in late February.
* First 5 Kern commissioners in December hired a team of three forensic accountants from Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. to examine contract finances.
Marie Ebersbacher, one of the accountants, said the team will turn in its report to county lawyers by Feb. 20 so it can be discussed at the special meeting.
Commissioners and county supervisors came up with a lengthy roster of questions they want answered in the reports.
See the related sidebar or go to bakersfield.com to read the questions yourself.
Both reports will be discussed at a special First 5 commission meeting at 9:30 a.m. Feb. 26 in the county public health building, 1800 Mount Vernon Ave.
The reports will be made public Feb. 20, said Steve Ladd, First 5 Kern's executive director. They will be available on the agency's Web site at www.first5kern.org.
The commission will also hold its regular monthly meeting at 2 p.m. Feb. 7 at the public health building. Commissioners are scheduled to choose program evaluators at that meeting, Ladd said.