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Letter: Grand County manager needs to acknowledge lack of oversight

To the Editor:

Having read Ms. Curran’s response in the Sky-Hi News to public criticism of her performance as the county manager I noticed something very distinctive — a complete lack of accepting responsibility for anything that went wrong.

She wrote, “Annual reports stated that internal controls were adequate.” Should we be settling for “adequate” instead of excellent or even very good? Did auditors ever suggest any improvements in the last 25 years beyond our “adequate controls?” Was there ever an internal review of systems in place? Were these procedures ever tested and verified by county heads and you as being more than adequate?



Evidently they weren’t, as over a 10-year period over half a million dollars were stolen despite these “adequate controls.” But now, “The County has taken steps to implement changes…” If we could have previously implemented these changes why didn’t we?

Ms. Curran wrote, “It is not my responsibility or in my job description to manage the BOCC…” No, it’s not. But it is your job to see there is a proper accounting and not a duplication of county expenditures. She further went on to write all we do is process the paperwork just like her predecessor did it – what 25 years ago? Is the BOCC required to have dates on these receipts? I would think a dated receipt submitted six months late would be a pretty simple clue something is amiss and then we don’t have a commissioner losing their integrity because of his “lack of accounting skills.” If all you do is process paperwork, then there are no checks and balances.



And speaking of integrity, if you report to the BOCC then it’s also your job to safeguard their integrity just as it is for your direct reports to safeguard your integrity. It’s called “all other duties as required” and should be understood by all managers.

After 25 years I would hope you have a laundry list of accomplishments, and we can appreciate that. However, as the county manager all dispersement and collection of funds are your responsibility even though there are department heads. But, doing everything “like we’ve always done it” strongly suggests a lack of being pro-active to constant improvement, settling for “adequate,” and an attitude of complacency.

As the County Manager the buck stops with you. Nowhere in your response do you admit or even reflect that. It’s time to publicly acknowledge the errors or lack of oversight are your responsibility and preserve your integrity.

Ken Anderson

Hot Sulphur Springs


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