State Auditor

The auditor general yesterday criticized the Welfare Department's $2.27 million contracts with a Philadelphia medical firm, saying that the company often had been paid without providing services. In its 11-page report, the Auditor General's Office said the Department of Public Welfare could have saved $730,000 if it had not used North East Emergency Medical Associates as a middleman for hiring doctors at five mental health institutions during a 14-month period ending in June 1986.

The state auditor general this week called on the state attorney general and the Montgomery County district attorney to investigate the possible misuse of taxpayers' money in Abington Township. "I'm not interested in pointing the finger at anyone . . . but there's a lot of money here that could not be accounted for . . . hundreds of thousands of dollars," Auditor General Don Bailey said at a news conference Tuesday in Philadelphia. Bailey, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, released an 81-page special audit outlining results of a three-month review of Abington's finances last year.

Former State Auditor General Don Bailey said yesterday that he was planning to seek the Democratic nomination for governor, a move that delighted some members of his party who have called themselves uninspired by candidates already in the race. Bailey, a college football star, Vietnam War hero and congressman, has the antiabortion, pro-labor views that conservative Democrats say are necessary to be successful as a Democrat in this state. The two other Democratic candidates for governor, State Rep. Ivan Itkin of Pittsburgh and Montgomery County lawyer Philip J. Berg, are viewed as more liberal - in part because of their support of abortion rights.

A state auditor said yesterday that he was fired for exposing financial irregularities at Cheyney University and providing investigators with information that was critical of his supervisors. "I talked with the investigators and seven days later I'm fired," David J. Musko, 34, of Valley Forge, said in an interview. "A whistle-blower at Cheyney gets fired for cooperation with the investigation. " State officials confirmed that Musko conducted a 1990 audit of Cheyney and recently was cooperating with a state probe of mismanagement at the school.

The state auditor general yesterday suspended his probe into whether the state improperly awarded a consulting contract to Edison Schools Inc., and he referred information gathered so far to a federal agency already investigating. Auditor General Bob Casey Jr. referred the matter to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General, which earlier this month agreed to investigate at the request of U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah. "We are making this referral because the very same question lies at the heart of both our state investigation into the $2.7 million contract awarded to Edison last summer to study the district and the inspector general's new investigation into the $60 million contract awarded to Edison earlier this month to operate 20 public schools in the district," Casey said.

Public funds were misused and lawmakers were misled when the state Department of Public Welfare sent a mailing advertising Planned Parenthood's services, according to a state auditor general report released yesterday. A 20-page audit prepared by Robert P. Casey Jr. faulted department officials for sending more than 56,000 brochures on behalf of Planned Parenthood in January. He said mailing material for organizations that promote abortions did not contribute to "the accomplishment of a proper governmental purpose.

As 37 New Jersey cities hope to hold on to $91 million in Urban Enterprise Zone funding, the independent state auditor issued a report Thursday saying there is little accountability in the program. Auditors found that in some areas programs acquired property without explaining why, that some cities rely on the money to cover municipal services without a plan to replace them, and that a large number of businesses defaulted on loans. The state wasn't "even aware that some of these loans were being written off or defaulting," Auditor Stephen M. Eells said.

The Montgomery County Register of Wills, Ronald Holt, engaged in professional misconduct while employed by the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, according to a report issued yesterday by the Pennsylvania Ethics Commission. The commission, which also recommended that Holt be prosecuted on criminal charges, found that he used the authority of his office for private benefit, earning thousands of dollars by performing auditing services for at least one private client during his regular work hours.

Based on faulty information from the Philadelphia School District, the state overpaid the district more than $30 million from 1990-91 through 1995-1996 for students who were truant and not being educated in city schools, according to the state Auditor General's Office. State funding of school districts is largely based on their daily enrollments. Auditor General Robert P. Casey's office has found that Philadelphia claimed state funding for 24,054 students who were absent from school in excess of 10 consecutive days during the latest audited period, from 1993-94 through 1995-96.

Bob Casey Jr., son and namesake of the popular former governor, launched his own political career yesterday by winning election as the state auditor general. Republicans held leads in close races for attorney general and treasurer. Although the Associated Press had declared all three Democratic candidates - Casey, Mina Baker Knoll and Joe Kohn - to be winners, Republican Barbara Hafer forged a late lead over Knoll in the treasurer's race. It looked as if it might hold, though her campaign was not declaring victory.

The crisis facing the Chester Upland School District is what happens when politicians are more interested in getting their way than in solving a problem. The fault lies as much in Harrisburg as in Chester. Privatization. Charters. State control. Increased funding. Austerity. None of these glib solutions to the problems of urban schools has provided Chester Upland's 7,000 students with what is available in most Pennsylvania school districts - an education that prepares students for college or the job market.

The Philadelphia School District continues to break the law by not having a safe-schools advocate, according to an audit released yesterday by the state auditor general. The advocate monitored the accuracy in reports of violent incidents by district officials and served as a resource for victims of school violence. Harvey Rice, now a deputy city controller, was the first to hold such a position in the country. He was succeeded by Jack Stollsteimer, a former U.S. attorney. But the position was eliminated in August 2009 after funding was removed from the state budget for the office.

Pennsylvania should reinstate an independent watchdog to monitor the violence-plagued Philadelphia School District, Auditor General Jack Wagner said today. Wagner made the call for the return of the "Safe Schools Advocate" position as he released findings of a financial and safety audit on the district at a press conference in Philadelphia this morning. He also said the position should be independent of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, which he said had failed to provide proper direction and oversight of the job in the past.

State Rep. Michael McGeehan (D., Phila.) on Tuesday asked the state auditor general to conduct "a full and complete forensic audit" of the Philadelphia School District's procurement practices. McGeehan made the request after determining that the district had provided the state Department of Education with an inadequate explanation of how it had awarded a $7.5 million no-bid emergency contract for school surveillance cameras. Thomas E. Gluck, the state's acting secretary of education, made a similar request of the auditor general Tuesday, although Gluck asked only for a detailed examination of the $7.5 million contract to IBS Communications Inc., a minority-owned company based in Mount Airy.

Acting Education Secretary Thomas Gluck wants the state auditor general to investigate Superintendent Arlene Ackerman's decision to award a minority-owned firm a $7.5 million emergency contract to install security cameras in 19 schools after district officials failed to provide information he requested. The district was given nearly two weeks to explain how Mount Airy-based IBS Communication got the job, how the district cancels contracts and how the project was funded. In his letter to the Bureau of School Audits sent yesterday, Gluck said the district's report failed to show how the project was considered an "emergency.

Re: "1,800 Pa. historic artifacts missing," Oct. 29: Coverage of the state auditor general's report on the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission collections generated sensational headlines but missed the point. The story is not "missing" artifacts. The story is the urgent need to fund a modern inventory-control and environmental system. Consider these facts: Reports of missing items were based on an out-of-date 1998 list that was presented to PHMC on the day of the report's release.

HARRISBURG - A Pennsylvania state Senate committee opened hearings Wednesday into the management of the Delaware River Port Authority, as lawmakers try to limit the bistate authority's powers. At its morning session, the Senate Transportation Committee questioned DRPA chairman John Estey and chief executive John Matheussen about economic-development spending, hiring, political influence and free tolls for employees. And state Treasurer Rob McCord, who is a member of the DRPA board, urged the Senate panel to seek systemic changes, and he called for Matheussen to be replaced.

Pennsylvania's Megan's Law Web site - a list of sex offenders and where they live - got a passing grade, but not by much, from the state auditor general yesterday. Following up on a 2006 examination of the State Police sex-offenders' site, Auditor General Jack Wagner said that the list has improved, but gives it a "C-. " Wagner said the site received a "C-" for photographs - some so poor that offenders could not be recognized - and a "D" for search features. Among his recommendations were clear, dated, front and side color photographs; a list of all sex offenses for each felon; and more types of searches, including tools like mapping and e-mail notification of sex offenders' new neighbors.

Pennsylvania Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille's solution to a glaring conflict of interest doesn't solve the problem. Castille was right to remove the Ballard Spahr attorney he hired to determine how $12 million in public funds was spent on a proposed new Family Court building in Philadelphia. Nothing against Ballard partner Henry E. Hockeimer Jr. The former federal prosecutor has a solid reputation and has done fine work on other high-profile cases. But Hockeimer was placed in an untenable situation, given that Castille had previously hired Ballard Spahr to work on the Family Court project.

Plenty of candidates kiss babies in crowds. But how many care to go mouth-to-snout with a slobbery golden retriever? Count Jack Wagner, Democrat for governor, among them. On a busy April Saturday that had Wagner, 62, zigzagging across the state, he stopped at a Lancaster park to thank the League of Humane Voters, some with dogs in tow, for their endorsement. Wagner, in a red-and-white Snoopy tie, promised he'd fight for the group's cause. "If you're not protecting animals, you're not doing such a good job with humans," he told them before zipping off to a Democratic Party dinner in Somerset County, 200 miles west.