Time for an Inspector General for Arlington County?
And even with an Inspector General in Montgomery County, Maryland, Miranda Spivack of the Washington Post has written two quite lengthy reports saying the Montgomery IG has uncovered a Germantown developer who was “reimbursed twice by local government agencies for building a pumping station and water main, collecting more than $6 million on a project that cost them about $3 million.” In the March 15, 2011 Washington Post, Ms. Spivack adds:
“The payments occurred even though senior officials in the county government and the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission were aware as early as 1998 of the potential for double payments, and some WSSC officials tried to stop them, the report says.
“The risk of double payments was also outlined in 2007 in a report by Montgomery County Council staff looking into reimbursement plans for the Clarksburg Town Center developer.”
Now, Montgomery County council members are confused. Spivack writes today in the Washington Post:
“But after a 90-minute hearing in which top county and water commission officials struggled to explain $6.7 million in payments and credits to a developer for a project that cost about $3 million, the lawmakers said they were more confused and worried than before.
“It is very difficult to decipher where the money went,” said council member Nancy Navarro (D-Eastern County), who chaired the session to review a recent county inspector general’s report. The report described a convoluted system of payments and credits. that appeared to have led Montgomery and the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) to each reimburse the developer for the same pumping station and water main.
“I am not satisfied,” said Council President Valerie Ervin (D-Silver Spring). “It raised more questions than it resolved.”
As I’ve written before, I have confidence in members of the finance staff. However, with a billion dollar government, it’s time for the Arlington County Board to hire an adequately-staffed Inspector General. Else, the panjandrums will find themselves similarly embarrassed.