Detroit Charter Misses Out On Financial Oversight Opportunity

I seem to recall an item I worked on during the City Charter revision process which called for an Inspector General.  As the Charter has recently been passed by the vote, it would seem there should be option for the Inspector General to admiral some of the tasks of weeding out fraud, waste and abuse within departments, programs and contracts.  No one would listen to me, as usual.

See, the archaic Ombudsman is the only department other than Corporate Council who has powers of subpoena, which have never been used, seriously.  The Ombudsman ensconces individual report findings into aggregate data and dumps it on City Council in annual reports, so nothing ever gets fixed.  The office only reports on what it supposedly does to keep its out-dated paychecks a-coming.

Then, if City Council is to now go to Council by District, there busts another illogical fallacy to keep the Ombudsman.

I raise the Ombudsman because the Inspector General has no powers of subpoena, further limiting it potential.

In addition, it was never considered that the Inspector General could privately contract for investigation,which would entail appointment for special powers of subpoena.

Lastly, there was no referral mechanism for the Inspector General to report violations of law to Corporate Council for prosecution and recovery. Another missed opportunity for oversight.

Unfortunately, a great opportunity has been lost in the Inspector General because this would have strengthened the argument against the Emergency Manager.  It would have been one of those "why re-invent the wheel" contentions.

Oh well.  Now we have the same folks overseeing the same mismanagement. Just wait, there is more.
 Keep looking into the dark cavern of child welfare.  This is why I proposed getting the language of "children are our most precious treasures" put into the preamble of the Detroit City Charter.  It passed.

"Children are our most precious treasures" is code for posterity, future interests, economic stabalization, and it circumvents the FOIA exemptions and exclusions for audits and continuous quality improvements in program quality and delivery of services.

One of these days someone is going to listen and heed my advice.

Funding at risk for Detroit's social services

Detroit— The city is managing federal funding so poorly that it's risking future dollars for social service programs intended to help disadvantaged residents, officials examining Detroit's finances say.
State officials found numerous cases of misspending on salaries and other expenditures in the administration of Head Start, Women, Infants and Children nutrition support, home weatherization and other programs, according to the state's preliminary review of the city's finances.
That puts the city in a vulnerable spot as it seeks to convince state officials that it can handle its fiscal crisis without outside intervention. If Gov. Rick Snyder determines the city requires the oversight of an emergency manager, that person could bar the city from administering federal funds and instead give the job to Wayne County or a private company.