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OSA Provides Work Experience for Students
July 26, 2011
Auditor Bump welcomes five high school and college interns who will be complimenting their educational studies by assisting in office operations for the State House and satellite locations. The 2011 summer interns include (from left to right) Phyllis Francis (Tewksbury), Joseph Tricca (Braintree), Sherrie Osorio Quinones (South Boston), Carmen Fleurimond (Dorchester), and Carolin Ramos (Roxbury).
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Auditor Bump Releases Two IT Audits
July 20, 2011
State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump today released two audits on MassDOT Registry of Motor Vehicles division and the North Shore Community College’s IT systems. These audits reviewed general information technology controls and procedures.
Audit Report: The Department of Transportation’s Office of Information Technology’s Activities Relating to the Registry of Motor Vehicles
Audit Report: North Shore Community College
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Boston Globe Editorial: Inflated bills, no accountability at Merrimack special ed group
July 19, 2011
Instead of helping cities and towns manage the high cost of special education, officials at one or more of the state’s 30 educational collaboratives helped themselves to lavish salaries, indecent perks, and bloated pensions. These public agencies, which provide transportation and classroom services for special-ed students, lack appropriate financial oversight.
Four state offices are looking into the allegations of financial abuse at the Merrimack Special Education Collaborative, which covers 10 communities in the Merrimack Valley. The inspector general charges that Merrimack executive John Barranco fleeced the collaborative out of more than $10 million while manipulating the payrolls of the collaborative and a closely related nonprofit partner - which Barranco also led. The attorney general’s office is looking into conflicts of interest and other problematic aspects of Merrimack’s operations. The state treasurer is examining pension histories of Merrimack employees, focusing on no-show jobs and other abuses. And the state auditor is combing not just Merrimack’s books, but also those of collaboratives based in New Bedford and Middleborough.
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State auditor Suzanne Bump is especially concerned about blurring the line between the educational collaboratives and their nonprofit partners and subcontractors. She told a legislative committee in May that she hit a brick wall when trying to follow taxpayers’ money at two educational collaboratives because subcontractors refused her request to review their books. The Legislature needs to step in quickly to close this loophole.