That is the correct website. There was also a story on WBIR.

(link...)

Look under the Services tab for the link to the questionable expenses. For the record....WBIR broke the complete story first...and reported the website url.

For the record....WBIR broke the complete story first...

And that's something WBIR should brag about?

ummm....wellum.....your title says KNS Blockbuster....lol...KNS story is a teaser...WBIR has the meat of the report and hizzoner's response through the suddenly unmuted Mr. Van de Vate.

Randy, I spoke with Cosby this morning. The weakness, I think, is in the presentation of his case, not with the case itself. Cosby is not a compelling writer, but a review of the 94 questions he posed to the Mayor's office indicate that he understands the necessity for internal controls and the way in which senior administration officials routinely violated the county's written policies. His letter won't be confused with a Hemingway missive, but he does know accounting.

Larry Van Guilder

your title says KNS Blockbuster

Sorry, they still haven't invented/implemented HTML sarcasm tags.

I've never seen a good audit that is chocked with poetic prose. Numbers don't lie and he seems to have the numbers correct. It will be interesting to see what County Commission does with it and how the KNS bashes them for doing it....so it goes.

WBIR started this with the CPA back a number of weeks ago (the site has the text of Kay Watson's story showing a 7/31 date).

I saw the story tonight and checked out the web site.

Interesting to see how Werner and Finch spent money.

he understands the necessity for internal controls

Seems like that train (Werner) has already left the station. And there's plenty of plausible deniability for those remaining at the top if they want to push it down to department heads.

But if y'all want to keep up the effort to pin it on the captain at the helm, I suppose you could make that case.

So far, though, the captain is giving y'all the finger on the whole thing, including defending his department heads, and getting away with it.

At some point the public is going to start wondering why that is, and if it's because there's no "there" there. Especially if you trot out this guy as the latest champion for your cause, from talk radio no less.

(The only medium with less credibility than "weekly tabloids", with apologies to Hornback, or blogs is talk radio. Heh.)

At this point, I'm just trying to figure out what Ragsdale did to piss off Hartmann in such a huge way. But I'm sure it has nothing to do with who the Haslams want to run for Governor in 2010.

Two things might just happen...1. County Commission sets a special called meeting for the Saturday after the audit is done, votes to investigate charter violations and subpeona everyone with a swinging ID tag. or 2. Calls on hizzoner to respond to Cosby's presentation at the commission meeting. Will want to pack your lunch for this one I'd say.

His letter won't be confused with a Hemingway missive, but he does know accounting.

And yet, you seem to be able to write OK.

Randy, I'm a genetic freak. :-)

Larry Van Guilder

Seems like that train (Werner) has already left the station.

Point taken, R, but the Nashville express has disembarked some passengers on the sixth floor who may have the last word about the "captain's" duty to keep a proper log.
(Geez, trains and ships in the same crappy metaphor.)

Larry Van Guilder

OK, I'll cop to crappy mixed metaphors. But I don't get paid to make them up. Especially at this hour of the night.

Actually, Randy, I was referring to my own crappy mixed metaphor.

Larry Van Guilder

At this point, I'm just trying to figure out what Ragsdale did to piss off Hartmann in such a huge way. But I'm sure it has nothing to do with who the Haslams want to run for Governor in 2010.

Randy: You can't be serious!

Ragsdale's abuses of power has been the top local story for almost 7 years. The Sentinel and WBIR-TV are just late to it and they're making up for lost time.

Some p.r. flack told me once that it didn't matter what the Shopper published. "As long as we keep the Sentinel and Channel 10 happy....." they had no problems. Victor operated on that theory too, but he kept the big dogs on the porch.

Ragsdale has managed to get every medium in town digging into his affairs. Wait until you see what Larry VG has dug up for Monday's Shopper. -- s.

From the KNS story...

Entire P-card monthly statements are missing from Finch’s file as well.

I can understand misplacing or forgetting a few receipts, but entire monthly credit card statements? Think those are in the shredder somewhere?

CBT

As the p-card scandal has unfolded, I have tried to keep up with all the players and their possible misdeeds. I'm not very knowledgeable about all the players and do not have a memory of their lives previous to this moment, so I may be like many other taxpayers. As I attempted to understand the facts in all of this, I have made some notes. It will help me sort all this better if anyone can point out where any of my conclusions are wrong or weak.

Notes To myself on the p-card scandal

It is abundantly obvious that insufficient records were kept by numerous departments regarding p-card requests, charges, reimbursements.

Yeah, good luck with that!

And this gem from Cosby...

Knox County granted $40,000 in July 2006 for a minority health summit in Nashville with “nothing in the file” dated earlier than a few days before the check was mailed. How did the mayor’s office recommend a grant for commission approval in June 2006 that hadn’t yet been requested?

A health summit in Nashville? Maybe there's a legitimate explanation somewhere. Of course, it could also be because the person in charge of grants in Knox County is also on the board of the group putting on the event. If I'm wrong and Cynthia Finch isn't connected to this group, please correct me.

Charges were made that appear to be at a minimum confusing and at a maximum downright fraud.

Ragsdale charged the co-pay for his colonoscopy on his county P-card.

The list of abuses is overwhelming ... but the bottom line is that Ragsdale and his senior staff (Suite 615) used their Hospitality Fund, Travel Allowance, and county P-cards indiscriminately to support a high-flying lifestyle that most Knox County residents can't afford and many find extravagant.

Ragsdale should resign. -- s.

Too bad Mr. Hornback was banned, I would love to hear his screams over this thread. He would be yelling at the top of his lungs about Ms. Clark's latest contribution. Probably something like - EW Scripps employee calls for Ragsdale's resignation!!!! But with more misspells, and more harshness.

you'll see Ragsdale is a speaker there.

Interesting info. Is Finch also on the board of the group putting on the event and receiving ghe grant? Other than Ragsdale speaking, what did it have to do with Knox County? I guess 'health' applies to us all, but was there any specific return for the $40,000?

CBT

hit just dont

From the KNS story...

Entire P-card monthly statements are missing from Finch’s file as well.

I can understand misplacing or forgetting a few receipts, but entire monthly credit card statements? Think those are in the shredder somewhere?

I can't remember who it was, but someone mentioned that Warner was seen using the shredder for a couple of days before he left.

Unless I've missed it I haven't seen anyone state the obvious and simple, which is that Ragsdale in part has been using public funds to finance his own political courtship, local and statewide, with African-American voters. Hence the minority health summit in Nashville, defiance in defense of Finch, minority grants, etc. He's still doing it or Finch would have gone the route of Bone and Lloyd, who were expendable as long as he stands by Finch.

He's following the model of Ashe and Shcumpert, who were smoother and did well in East Knoxville, for good reason. But Rags overdid it with loose money, just as he has fumbled everything else with loose money and few acct'g controls. A competent finance director could have pulled this off for him. Had Rags begged Kathy Hamilton to work for him, the main focus would still be on Scoob and Comm'n.

it is all so confusing. better to rely on what we already believed before we got all this informantion.

I think some needs to ask SunTrust and BB&T for complete credit card statements and monthly bank statements of the accounts in questions... let's quit messing around with Ragsdale and his stall tactics... let's get the info from the source aka the banks...

Submitted by Debbie in Halls on Fri, 2007/08/24 - 1:47pm.

....Only the supporting documentation is gone.

And that's the issue or at least one of the issues. As a matter of accounting/auditing practice, expenditures should be supported by original documentation not by vendor/credit card statements.

You'd hate it more if he had simply appropriated your story, right down to dollar amounts, that appeared months ago in the Shopper News. I guess the KNS gets what they pay for.

Larry Van Guilder

Offhand, it would appear that Mayor Ragsdale has no legal obligation to respond to Cosby's questions any more than City Council has the obligation to respond to comments made during the public forum. It would also appear the Cosby is somewhat premature in making his findings public given that Wall's audit of the P-card accounts has not been completed.

On the other hand, Cosby's volunteer time as an experienced auditor certainly should speed up Wall's audit and should result in a significant reduction of the fees to be charged by the State Comptrollers Office.

As reported by WBIR, I find it interesting that at one point Van de Vate states that Cosby can review the ongoing audit when it is issued and later is reported as follows:

Dwight Van de Vate, spokesperson for Mayor Ragsdale, released a statement noting that they're working hard to meet Mr. Cosby's demands, even though they will ultimately cost thousands of dollars in staff time.

What Van de Vate appears to ignore is the fact that it has already cost thousands of dollars in staff time paying senior staff for not properly documenting and accounting for what appears to be questionable expenditures of public funds.

I read the article this morning, and loved it!

Stan and Tamara, and all of you other accountants should too.

A lone cowpoke came into town, wearing a white ten-gallon hat. He is the Accountant Cowboy. Dom de dom de dom!!!

He is clearing the streets and asking for records.

It is time to show 'em or fold 'em.

Go get 'um, I say! Yay!!!!!!

Submitted by Debbie in Halls on Fri, 2007/08/24 - 7:55pm
Actually, Wall's audit is completed. The 1st draft was sent to Ragsdale, and he has been given two weeks to respond so Wall's can write the final draft.

As Tamara mentions above, Walls has not completed his audit of the P-card accounts nor of the grant funds. It would appear based on his correspondence that Cosby reviewed the P-card and the so-called Mayor's Hospitality Account.

This from the News-Sentinel, Sunday, August 19, 2008:

Walls is conducting several audits. He has finished an audit of travel pay in the mayor’s office, although it hasn’t been publicly released. He next planned an audit of purchasing card use by all county departments and also plans to look into the county grant process.

Tamara,

I don't recall having ever met Louis Cosby; however, it's my understanding that he became involved when Mayor Ragsdale invited him to review the records. It appears to me that having the time and the experience, he called the Mayor's bluff. Does he seriously expect the Mayor to respond to his questions? I don't know. Again, it appears to me that he is simply making the point that all is not by the book in Ragsville.

And what difference does it make whether he last audited a computerized system, a pegboard system, or a quill and inkwell system? I suspect he looked at paid vouchers and the supporting documents when there were supporting documents. How many, I don’t know, but to suggest he performed an audit of the county and all of its employees makes no sense.

I am not suggesting that “the commissioned audit team” will not have to review the same records that Cosby reviewed. What I am saying is that he has given them a heads up on many discrepancies that they need to review. In my opinion, a 100% review of the files, which I suspect Cosby did, is more reliable than any statistical sampling that the Comptrollers office might normally use.

As for the fee, the difference I suspect is that your audit was one the Comptrollers office was required to perform. The county, in contrast, is requesting assistance for which it will be charged a fee. Again, from the KNS of Sunday, August 19, 2008:

“My hope is that we’ve got an audit going on by Richard Walls, and (the Law Department) will probably be asking us to approve an agreement with the state comptroller to help Mr. Walls,” Hammond said.

"To call his release of so-called findings "premature" is an understatement. I could say just that it not customary for a one-man audit team of any qualification to be releasing any "findings" after just 16 hours scrutiny of records for a entity employing thousands and maintaining nearly $1 billion in assets, especially prior to reviewing those "findings" with affected parties, but I'm entitled to say that it is entirely unconscionable." Tamara Shepherd

I don't know who you are, you don't know who I am, but where do you get off saying stuff like this (and all the other stuff in the rest of this post and elsewhere)?

Does he needs your phone number to call and get your blessing before doing something?

BTW, on a different subject, do you realize it looks like you post on what looks like every single entry on this blog? I wouldn't be suprised over the same period of time you've put more on this site than the guy who owns it. On a per word basis, you've more than blessed me with your infinite wisdom. You may be a nice person for all I know, but geez.

Your comments are out of focus..guess thats what happens when one hangs out at the pond & talks to the ducks.

Tamara: Have you been to the county purchasing office on Central Avenue and seen the records that prompted Cosby's 94 questions? I have, and I can assure they are a disgrace. His inquiry was pointed, aimed right at the heart of the matter, which is the blatant disregard of senior Ragsdale administration officials for the very policies they purport to abide by.

Is it crowded on Dead-ender street? Take off your blinders.

Larry Van Guilder

Over time, I really think you'll come to feel that I form my opinions on the basis of what verifiable information I believe I have, not on the basis of preserving any alliances I might be purported to have.

If thats your standard then it sort of discredits you when you call someone you've never met a nutcase. You're also forgetting that Mr. Mayor invited Mr. Cosby to "swing by and have a look". Also, your criticism of his accounting methods is pretty lame. I don't care if he uses an abacus...numbers are numbers whether you use a computer or count on fingers and toes.

by folks who know how to do it.

Oh yeah...I forgot that I should trust my government over a concerned citizen. What was I thinking?

"...we should wait for completion of official review, by folks who know how to do it."

Private citizens ought to know their place isn't to ask to see their government's records or try to do their own inquiries into government practices or, you know, try to hold their government accountable for, you know, stuff.

'Cause the government has people who do that for them...

;}

Can you believe the nerve of these nutcases? Didn't they know they should trust their government?

(link...)

If I were an apologist for Ragsdale, I'd argue "Let the audit take its course," hoping this all somehow blows over if stretched out.

But this is American, and East Tennessee by the grace of God, and nobody around here much likes or trusts government.

It's OUR government and OUR money. You go, Lewis Cosby! I hope you're joined next week by 10 more folks digging through receipts and checkbooks. -- s.

You know its a little bit flip to say I'm sure we share a pride in the participants at the Boston Tea Party.

At what point do we as modern day citizens say "Enough!" to having our government waste our money. What is our recourse? There's an old saying "Mind your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves." (Folksy, I know). This is exactly what's happening not just in Knox county, but in Tennessee and the United States. Nobody's minding the pennies.

Here's the thing. I don't have Smoothies for breakfast or lobster for lunch.I have toast and pack my lunch. If I have a party I pay for the liquor. If my company decides to give me a company car they won't also pay a car allowance. I don't have a heated closet like Shumaker. If I get fired or quit I don't get to stick around until I am vested. I don't have people on my company's payroll who do my personal errands like Harbor and probably Witt did for Ragsdale. If I did I would get fired. If I need to take family leave I don't get paid. Am I leaving anything out?

Doesn't anyone stop to think how this wastefulness makes the average working person feel? Maybe it makes us feel like throwing something in the harbor. Oh and yes, remembering that great symbolic act does make me proud.

is that is comes from a small, but representative, sample of transactions and accounts. The troublesome p-card charges and missing statements go back to 2004 and, if I recall correctly, WERE mentioned in previous audit reports, but NOTHING WAS DONE about the practices!!!

I do believe it takes a microscopic examination (i.e., Mr Cosby's posts) to get our attention about the SCOPE of misdeeds going on in Rags admin.

I don't believe that making some grammatical errors or not translating technical issues into prose are evidence of being illiterate, or that being willing to tilt at windmills makes one a nutcase.

I believe Lewis Cosby is still the same competent individual that he was when he audited the company I worked for in the 1980's.

I'm a CPA, and most of my professional experience has been as an auditor.

Okay, so he's not much of a proofreader/editor. But it seems to me that his analytical skills are still excellent. And some of the best CPA's I've worked with over the last 30 years weren't the best at drafting an audit report. Didn't mean that the work was shabby, and usually it meant just the contrary. Even with the typos in Lewis' correspondence, I found what he wrote easy to understand and his point came across.

Not only is Lewis a reasonable, smart guy but he's also someone who left accounting in the late 1980's to follow his passion... tv. He was extremely successful in both his accounting career and his career as a television executive.

And for those of you in my biz, we know that internal controls are management's responsibility. I think Lewis is absolutely on target when he addresses his concerns directly to Ragsdale.

Although he says otherwise, I think that Cosby has an agenda. But, he doesn't claim that he's done a true "audit," and he hasn't. He is coming forth as a citizen, not an auditor. A citizen with an agenda, I think, but I also believe that what he is presenting is based on more facts and investigation than most "delegations to be heard" at County Commission.

He offered Ragsdale a chance to answer his questions (questions that seem quite reasonable under the circumstances). Even though there probably is some merit to Vandevate's reply that some of his questions will require research time, I think that the overall tone of the mayor's message was, "screw you, Lewis."

The questions that Cosby asks, for whatever reason, are reasonable for a citizen to ask, and are worthy of answers from the mayor. But, I also believe that the timing of Cosby's appearance before the County Commission to present his findings (before the official audit results are released) seem to be based on somebody's agenda mores than a true desire to get to the heart of the matter. But, they're still reasonable questions to ask.

From everything I've seen, it appears that shoddy bookkeeping is the nicest way to portray what has been going on in the mayor's office. The trend is far too broad to be attributable to carelessness, in my opinion. But Lewis Cosby's appearance at the County Commission meeting on Monday, whatever his motives, is just one more example that the sharks are circling, and if the mayor's office can't do one hell of a lot better than it has been doing in explaining things, it's just a matter of time before the administration collapses under the weight of its own feeble excuses.

sp

I don't know Cosby, and I don't know Tamara Shepherd, but she's dinging him for not being an active CPA (among other things).

Tamara, are you an active CPA? Do you have a bachelor's degree? Is it in accounting?

I didn’t have time to reply to Tamara this morning; I respond now knowing that I might be repeating what others may have posted.

Tamara, Cosby specifically states, “I have not performed an audit as we accountants understand those terms.” You, however, erroneously continue to refer to his review of selected files as an audit, yet you state, “It is Cosby who implies that he has conducted an audit of the county, not me.”

And, you continue to put Cosby down because he retired from public accounting 20 years ago. You ignore, however, that he has started several private businesses during those 20 years; businesses that I would suspect have moved beyond pegboard accounting systems and have progressed to computer based accounting systems.

In his letter to County Commission, Cosby states that he continues to be a licensed, inactive CPA. I find nothing in your resume that indicates that you have Cosby’s training or experience as an auditor. As a CPA once explained to me, auditing is simply a matter of looking at an accounting entry and decided whether it correctly reflects the transaction and complies with established policies.

In Cosby’s review, he looked at individual transaction – and yes, I feel confident that he looked at 100% of the disbursements he selected to review as opposed to reviewing a sample; you took my statement out of context. He than decided whether there was adequate documentation, incomplete documentation, or missing documentation and whether they appeared reasonable in accordance with published policies. That’s what the pre-audit staff should have done and what Walls and the state auditors should be doing.

Looking at Cosby’s review from a positive viewpoint, which you apparently refuse to do, he has provided Ragsdale and Finch with the opportunity to correct the deficiencies he found before the state auditors arrive on the scene.

As for the agreement with the Comptroller’s office, the following is quoted from as News-Sentinel article published August 9, 2008:

Now the comptroller’s office has agreed to provide “face-to-face” help on a county audit of purchasing card use and “other matters,” Owings said.

“It will come at a price,” he said.

Owings said he would prepare a document of those costs to be presented at the next County Commission meeting Aug. 27.

The county would have to enter into an “audit service agreement” with the comptroller’s office.

Walls works for the commission, but several commissioners have said they also want the comptroller’s involvement.

Norment said costs for the comptroller’s office will include actual costs of doing the work, including labor and travel.

In an earlier post, Tamara asks that we think through the Hospitality Fund Procedures with her. I have and I disagree.

In my opinion, the intent of TCA section referenced by Creekmore in regard to restricted gifts is that County Commission vote to accept the gift and the related conditions and restrictions prior to the receipt of the gift. An after-the-fact resolution to accept all gifts, in my opinion, does not comply with the intent of the code.

In regard to unrestricted gifts, the intent is that the gifts become part of the general fund to be budgeted without regard to the source. There is no requirement that unrestricted gifts be budgeted as individual line items as Tamara suggests.

Cutting to the basics without assigning culpability for error, I am curious to know what evidence Tamara might have that leads her to believe that unrestricted gifts were in fact credited to the hospitality fund.

Scott Bacon or Russ Oaks can comment, but I don't think Partners In Education accepts money. Instead, it is funded by KCS to coordinate donors who contribute directly to schools.

PIE has done tremendous work to build community support for Knox County Schools. It in no way can be compared to Ragsdale's slush fund(s). Somehow I can't see Scott and Russ and Mary Kerr buying bags of booze with PIE funds. Just can't see it. -- s.