Day: December 2, 2012

Let’s drill down on the OIG report on DMR’s friends and family program to expose fatal flaws in the appraisals obtained by the Bay Waveland School District in the Bay Tech Building Scandal

Let’s use some excerpts of the OIG report on DMR’s land acquisitions to illustrate why the taxpayer paid appraisals obtained by the Bay Waveland School Board as cover for their friends and family program are not worth the paper they are written on. First up we need to know what the OIG auditors did and they well explain it:

You see folks, the auditors may have had specific information that DMR Director Bill Walker and his assistant Tina Shumate were looting the program for their personal gain but going in blank they would have noticed a ton of red flags. Preliminary procedures would include comparing the real estate valuations (appraisals) against tax roll appraised values. Drilling down into the appraisal report themselves for those transactions that had large variances would include evaluating the appraiser’s work product against professional standards in the field. The OIG was kind enough to identify for us 15 requirements and best practices and summarize how each DMR transaction failed at least 4 of those 15 best practices/requirements: Continue reading “Let’s drill down on the OIG report on DMR’s friends and family program to expose fatal flaws in the appraisals obtained by the Bay Waveland School District in the Bay Tech Building Scandal”

Here is something from the west South Coast you east South Coast folks may be interested in.

Lord knows I rarely send them any traffic (and for good reason) but today’s Seacoast Echo had an interesting story on Fairhope Alabama developer William “Rusty” Miller’s federal indictment for  violations of the Clean Water Act.  As I remember the events a certain Hancock County official was closely involved in the events.  Turns out so is someone going by the name of Robbie Maxwell.  Here is a snippet:

In an interview with the Sea Coast Echo in 2007, project consultant Robbie Maxwell said the development would be “something Hancock County will be proud of.”

Lookin’ good to me Robbie. Let us know when y’all will be breaking ground.

I think I shall shake the tree.

Sunday Video: The intersection of “fiscal cliff” and “moral hazard”

Let’s hop into the way back machine for 2005 and fast forward to 2009 beginning with Bushie era lobbyist Jack Abramoff, profiled by 60 minutes a bit over a year ago in a bit of must see TeeVee. Before I get to that let’s visit with Abramoff’s Wiki entry:

Jack A. Abramoff (/ˈeɪbrəmɒf/; born February 28, 1958) is an American former lobbyist, businessman, movie producer, and writer.[1][2] He was at the heart of an extensive corruption investigation that led to his conviction and to 21 persons either pleading guilty or being found guilty,[3] including White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine other lobbyists and Congressional aides.

Abramoff was College Republican National Committee National Chairman from 1981 to 1985, a founding member of the International Freedom Foundation, allegedly financed by apartheid South Africa,[4][5]and served on the board of directors of the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank. From 1994 to 2001 he was a top lobbyist for the firm of Preston Gates & Ellis, and then forGreenberg Traurig until March 2004.

After a guilty plea in the Indian lobbying scandal and his dealings with SunCruz Casinos in January 2006, he was sentenced to six years in federal prison for mail fraud, conspiracy to bribe public officials, and tax evasion. He served 43 months before being released on December 3, 2010.[6]

Another of those 21 people that was ensnared in the scandal was Senator Thad Cochran senate staffer Ann Copeland, who sold out for a few of Abramoff’s peanuts. Copeland’s name appeared one time on Slabbed as it related to the Talon Group in connection with the Mark St Pierre trial.

So with all the yammering about fiscal cliffs and associated BS emanating from Washington DC I pulled Abramoff outta “drafts”, where he has been languishing for months. Here is a snippet from Lesley Stahl’s interview with him that makes the entire 14 minute segment worth watching:

Stahl: Can you quantify how much it costs to corrupt a congressman? Continue reading “Sunday Video: The intersection of “fiscal cliff” and “moral hazard””