Folts lobbies county to adopt specific financial policies
By Lesli Bales-Sherrodof The Daily Times Staff
Originally published: October 26. 2006 3:01AM
Last modified: October 26. 2006 2:02AM
Jim Folts of Citizens for Better Government has ideas about what can be done to reign in the county's finances.
One of them is to develop policies that set standards for all aspects of county operations, including credit card usage, personal use of county vehicles and travel authorization.
"The county is a $140 million business, but it has fewer procedures than you'd find in a well-run $15 million company," Folts said in an interview Wednesday. "We need to put in place policies that make clear what the expectations are."
For example, Folts said the travel report presented to County Commission is vague.
"A real travel report should say, 'This is the reason, this is who went, this is who they met with and these are the results,'" he said. "And most importantly, 'These are the costs that were incurred.'"
Folts said the county's travel policies also are not specific enough.
"If it's not clear, I might stay at a five-star hotel," he used as an example. "It doesn't make the employee bad if the county doesn't set the standard."
In addition to policies on travel authorization and travel reporting, Folts believes the county needs strict policies on nepotism, credit card usage, procurement card usage, personal use of county vehicles, usage of payment vouchers and tuition reimbursement.
"You can't control elected officials, but you can set the standard," Folts said. "If they violate the standard, and you make it known publicly, it will change their behavior."
County Mayor Jerry Cunningham said in a telephone interview Wednesday that Folts is "a good man," but he is "dead wrong" when it comes to the county policies.
"There is a policy on credit cards and on travel," he said. "I might tweak them, but I've been on this job less than two months. I can't accomplish everything overnight. I'm working on it."
Cunningham said there are "lots of things under review," including putting credit card invoices on the Internet so that citizens can see what is being bought.
"These things take time," the county mayor said. "The goal is for it to be a completely transparent government, where you can see it and understand."
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