July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Resignation could help (7/21/05)
Editorial
John Brooke, attorney for the town of Redkey, says the time for placing blame for the town’s dire financial situation should be behind us.
Maybe he’s right.
There’s not much to be gained by finger-pointing.
But at the same time, if Redkey is ever going to get its house in order, some folks are going to have to accept responsibility and others are going to have to turn over control to more competent custodians of the public trust.
For several weeks now, ever since he began to get a feel for how bollixed up Redkey’s books are, the town’s attorney has been asking for basic information so that an accurate assessment could be made as to how bad the situation really is.
He still hasn’t gotten it.
As of Monday’s town council meeting, fundamental information on what Redkey owes and what it is owed by others could not be produced by the town’s clerk-treasurer, Brenda Adkins. Without that data, the council is blithely sailing in the dark. And it appears to be sailing in very deep waters.
By Brooke’s calculations — which are akin to a ballpark guess since hard numbers are hard to find — the town will have to borrow something like $28,000 just to get through the year.
That could be wrong, of course. But without hard numbers, it’s impossible to know.
Perhaps the most troubling bit of missing data is an accounting of those people who are delinquent on their water and sewage bills and the total amount due. The Indiana State Board of Accounts has complained about sloppiness and a large degree of delinquent accounts during past audits.
Why does it matter? Because that’s money owed to the town of Redkey at a time when it looks as if revenue is going to be hard to come by.
Through audit after audit, state officials have urged numerous changes in the way Adkins conducts the town’s business.
Despite regular assurances that things will change, they don’t. They just get worse.
Perhaps John Brooke is right that the blame game would be counterproductive at this point, but it’s even more clear that the situation is never going to be resolved as long as Adkins holds the post of clerk-treasurer.
She’s a very nice person; we’ve known her and liked her for years. But she’s in over her head.
If things are going to change, a resignation is in order. — J.R.
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Maybe he’s right.
There’s not much to be gained by finger-pointing.
But at the same time, if Redkey is ever going to get its house in order, some folks are going to have to accept responsibility and others are going to have to turn over control to more competent custodians of the public trust.
For several weeks now, ever since he began to get a feel for how bollixed up Redkey’s books are, the town’s attorney has been asking for basic information so that an accurate assessment could be made as to how bad the situation really is.
He still hasn’t gotten it.
As of Monday’s town council meeting, fundamental information on what Redkey owes and what it is owed by others could not be produced by the town’s clerk-treasurer, Brenda Adkins. Without that data, the council is blithely sailing in the dark. And it appears to be sailing in very deep waters.
By Brooke’s calculations — which are akin to a ballpark guess since hard numbers are hard to find — the town will have to borrow something like $28,000 just to get through the year.
That could be wrong, of course. But without hard numbers, it’s impossible to know.
Perhaps the most troubling bit of missing data is an accounting of those people who are delinquent on their water and sewage bills and the total amount due. The Indiana State Board of Accounts has complained about sloppiness and a large degree of delinquent accounts during past audits.
Why does it matter? Because that’s money owed to the town of Redkey at a time when it looks as if revenue is going to be hard to come by.
Through audit after audit, state officials have urged numerous changes in the way Adkins conducts the town’s business.
Despite regular assurances that things will change, they don’t. They just get worse.
Perhaps John Brooke is right that the blame game would be counterproductive at this point, but it’s even more clear that the situation is never going to be resolved as long as Adkins holds the post of clerk-treasurer.
She’s a very nice person; we’ve known her and liked her for years. But she’s in over her head.
If things are going to change, a resignation is in order. — J.R.
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