Office of Emergency Services’ Responsibility to Account for Fire Safe Grant Funds
Ashes of accountability: Burning through taxpayers' dollars & public trust.
In The Union's July 14th, 2021 issue, County CEO Alison Lehman defends the relationship with Fire Safe Council. More importantly, she says, “the county has a duty to oversee the funds contracted with the Fire Safe Council and account for every penny.”
So why, after three years, hasn’t an outside accounting firm conducted a real forensic audit of how the grant funds coming into the Office of Emergency Services have been spent? Why just focus on Fire Safe?
In July 2022, County Auditor-Controllers Marcia Salter and Gina Will signed a contract with CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (CLA) for a report (not an audit). This contract did not go out for bid; the auditors, instead, used CLA, a company the County has had a long relationship with. CLA found no wrongdoing by Fire Safe, but it was not a complete audit. They did make recommendations to Fire Safe to improve their bookkeeping methods.
CEO Lehman’s Statements in 2021
“The county is awaiting the results of the current internal audit of the Fire Safe Council before expressing any opinion related to concerns brought to our attention. We have met with the Fire Safe Council chair and executive director. The county has requested documents and financial information in coordination with the county auditor relating to our contracts and the financial reports with the Fire Safe Council. The concerns expressed are under the purview and governance of the Fire Safe Council Board. However, the county has a duty to oversee the funds contracted with the Fire Safe Council and account for every dollar.
We do not have any concerns about the Fire Safe Council meeting grant deliverables. The county views the Fire Safe Council as a critical and valued partner in preparing our community for wildfire.
The Fire Safe Council has been very responsive and cooperative to the county’s request for more information related to the concerns brought forward by Ms. McGuire and others. An independent third party will review each concern in McGuire’s letter and prepare a full report for the Fire Safe Council Board. The Fire Safe Council is meeting with the county weekly or as needed and will share the annual audits as soon as possible after they are reviewed and approved by the Fire Safe Council Board.”
In August 2021, the Fire Safe Council released its audit.
Well, almost three years have gone since 2021. All the while, the County has continued to contract with Fire Safe despite a Grand Jury report saying there were significant bookkeeping problems.
Now, immediately following the April 8th Grand Jury report, ‘Follow the Money: Fire Safe Council’s Accountability: Problems from 2022 Continue… and appear to worsen’, the County is saying Fire Safe is a high-risk vendor.
There were problems with Fire Safe in 2021, and the County continued to contract with them. In its recent report, why hasn’t the Grand Jury followed the money right back to the Office of OES, which has the ultimate duty to oversee grant funds coming from the State and Federal government? OES also has had an ongoing duty to monitor the contracts with Fire Safe to make sure the grant money gets the job done for the taxpayers. The buck has to stop somewhere. It is squarely with the County and OES.
The Grand Jury must finish the job.
Pauli Halstead
Nevada City