Reminder: Auditor General Forum Tonight!

A candidates' forum for the state auditor general race will be held tonight at Northampton Community College, College Center Building, Room 220. The forum, starting at 7 pm, will be preceded by a 6:30 pm Meet 'n Greet.

The four candidates include Democrat Eugene DePasquale (incumbent), Republican John Brown (NorCo County Exec), Green Party John Sweeney (Wyoming County) and Libertarian Roy Minet.

The auditor general is the state's chief fiscal officer and performs about 6,000 audits every year of state agencies, municipal governments, school districts, public sector pensions and entities that receive state funding support. The office also does some performance audits.

The salary is currently $158,764.

Pa GOP Pumps Brown For Auditor General

On my left sidebar, I have a poll asking you to rate NorCo Exec John Brown's first two years in office, from A to F. Though this is by no means scientific, he's doing poorly. Nevertheless, he has his eyes set on the Auditor General's seat, and picked up the support of the state GOP at their Winter meeting in Hershey on Saturday.

I first told you that Brown intended to seek this seat on November 1.

What this means is that he will be getting paid by the taxpayers of Northampton County to be a full-time candidate because in this state, we have no resign-to-run laws. While Brown is criss-crossing the state trying to pick up votes in a race he must know he will lose, he will assign responsibilities to Cathy Allen, his de facto second in command.

After he falls on the sword and loses, the state GOP will be obliged to find him a nice job, like they did for Bob Nyce.

NorCo Exec John Brown To Run For Auditor General

I've been informed by several highly placed Republicans that Northampton County Executive John Brown is running for Auditor General. This has not been confirmed by Brown, who pretty much ignores media inquiries. Whatever we may think of him, the bluebloods in control of the GOP in Harrisburg just love the guy. I will update this post at midnight.

State Audit: Former Bangor Superintendent Paid $142,000 For Consulting Services Never Provided

Eugene DePasquale

A state audit of the Bangor Area School District's finances reveals that its former Superintendent, Patricia Mulroy, was paid $142,000 for consulting services that were never provided. This report, released yesterday, was prepared by State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale. It covers the period between August 2011 and May 2014.

In addition to paying for nonexistent consulting services, the school district reported $18,000 of that sum in the Superintendent's retirement package.

When School Directors accepted Mulroy's resignation in 2012, it was conditioned on their willingness to continue paying her $4,808 every two weeks as a "consultant."

DePasquale found that this payment amounted to a "significant noncompliance" with relevant state laws. "[I]t is unclear what benefit, if any, the District received in exchange for the $142,608 it paid to or on behalf of the former Superintendent." He concluded that the Board abandoned its fiduciary responsibility for even entering into this agreement.

In its response, the School District called General DePasquale's conclusions "to be subjective and conjecture."

The Auditor General stated the public is entitled to be made aware of the reasons for agreeing to pay a retiring or former employee for consulting services.