Mon Valley leaders receptive to DePasquale’s transparency proposal
In this Herald-Standard file photo, State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale comments to the Herald-Standard editorial staff about recent findings in an audit of the Connellsville Area School District that he said is riddled with red flags about the district’s financial and administrative stability.
Camera Bartolotta
Walsh
Cook
Local lawmakers are on board with a proposal from the state’s auditor general to post their expenditures online for constituents to view.
Recently, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale announced that he had posted the department’s expenses online and urged other departments and the General Assembly to do likewise.
That idea was well received by many leaders in the Mon Valley.
“A little sunlight goes a long way in taking care of problems,” said state Rep. Bud Cook, R-Coal Center, who talks to his colleagues regularly about improving the technology behind state government.
“We are so, so far behind the curve,” Cook said.
DePasquale urged his former colleagues in the state General Assembly to follow his lead and suggested it to other government entities.
In April, DePasquale offered to provide that service to the General Assembly, particularly in light of a recent limited audit that revealed a surplus of $118.4 million in legislative accounts.
The auditor general said the General Assembly could simply invite his agency to review appropriate accounts.
Rep. Justin Walsh, R-Rostraver Township, said he could put expenditures on his website, but “I thought it was already done,” referring to PennWATCH, established under a law signed by then-Gov. Tom Corbett on June 30, 2011, as a “searchable budget database-driven internet website detailing certain information concerning taxpayer expenditures and investments.”
The Pennsylvania Web Accountability and Transparency Act authorized the Governor’s Office of Administration to create and develop PennWATCH, which was launched in December 2012 and can be found at pennwatch.pa.gov.
“It is a place where you can get salary information and other details about government employees,” Walsh said. “I’ve heard it is hard to navigate.”
PennWATCH is meant to provide “in-depth information about the state budget and revenues,” with “key data on all three branches of state government, as well as agencies that receive funding through the state budget.”
It provides links to 93 entities, including state agencies, California University of Pennsylvania, other State System of Higher Education and state-related universities, and the state House and Senate.
Links direct the searcher to the legislative websites where one can find details on pending and passed legislation, as well as a link to the page where one can make Right-To-Know requests under state Act 3 of 2008.
Meanwhile, Cook has an example from testimony at the House Majority Policy Committee hearing he hosted Feb. 13 in Donora regarding the opioid crisis.
“IBM believes 21st Century technology can make a significant and essential impact, and make a difference in supporting the holistic, multi-disciplinary ecosystem dedicated to combating not only opioid abuse, but the generation of other benefits that can be realized as a result multiple agencies collaborating with each other,” said William Josko, United States Public Safety Practice Leader for IBM’s GBS SLE Industry.
“And they’re actually continuing to pursue that, IBM Smart Government,” Cook said. “It would take us from the dark ages to light years ahead.”
Josko said IBM’s famed Watson computer was being brought into health care as part of the battle against cancer and into education and government.
“It takes the politics out of it,” Cook said. “We can have opinions, but we still have to deal with the same set of facts.”
“Since taking office, issues surrounding transparency and accountability in how taxpayer dollars are spent has remained a top priority for me,” said Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Carroll Township. “That is why I declined to take any per diem payments upon my election to the Senate.”
Walsh said he does accept per diem payments when the legislature is in session and he’s in Harrisburg. He said he firmly believes in open government and would have no problem posting expenditures if his constituents want it.
“I have 60,000 bosses, and I try to spend my bosses’ money as it is my bosses’ money,” Cook said, quoting a proverb, “Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.”
Cook said he eats at Subway and does not take the Turnpike to avoid racking up tolls.
“Technologically, I’m not sure about my own website,” Cook conceded. Still he tries to run his office “10 percent below what we were budgeted.”
Bartolotta said any expense on her part requires proper documentation, such as a receipt, and approval by the Chief Clerk of the Senate.
“All of this information is accessible through the Chief Clerk’s office,” Bartolotta said. “While I understand Right-to-Know requests can been seen as a nuisance, this process helps to ensure that the information provided is both responsive and accurate.”
Bartolotta said she is reviewing how DePasquale has handled making his expenses available online.
“I would also encourage anyone who is not familiar with Right-to-Know requests to visit Pennsylvania’s Office of Open Records website,” Bartolotta said.
According to PennWATCH, “data for these participating agencies is updated on a monthly basis, except employee compensation, which is updated annually. All agencies are responsible for the accuracy of their data.”
Closer to home
Audits are a way of life on county and local levels.
“We have always tried to be as transparent as possible,” said Larry Maggi, chairman of the Washington County board of commissioners.
It doesn’t go as far as DePasquale’s pledge to post monthly travel expenses, but Maggi said the county is looking to post as much online as possible.
“We’re pretty well along the way,” the Washington County chairman said. “We have been posting deeds, records and transcripts for years.”
One also can find annual budgets and results of audits on the Washington County website. MaherDuessel of Pittsburgh and Harrisburg conducts annual audits of the county books through 2013.
Westmoreland County officials said open, transparent and accountable government is a priority. The board of commissioners in Greensburg said they support an Open Government portal on the www.co.westmoreland.pa.us website.
The commissioners also invite comments about that website that can be emailed to webmaster@co.westmoreland.pa.us.
Municipal websites can have a wide variety of facts and figures.
“The City of Monongahela has recognized the need to make council meeting minutes and current ordinances available to the public,” that city posted on www.CityofMonongahela-PA.gov. “This is in addition to the audio of the council meetings that have already been made available on the website through the city clerk’s office.”
The latest audio on that website is from the May 10 council meeting.
Rostraver Township’s website offers links to financial statements and data for 2015 and 2016, as well as a filing of what Rostraver has done with payments received from Pennsylvania’s Act 13 impact fee.
But ongoing expenditures aren’t always found on such sites.
“Not at this point,” said Monessen city council’s Director of Accounts and Finance Ronald Chiaravalle, “but we may be able to come up with an interactive website.”
For now, however, Chiaravalle said, “We are as transparent to the extent that every expense and every check we write is proposed at the public meeting.”
The monthly council business meeting, that is, where a binder contains the bills and other expenses tackled in the past month by city government. Chiaravalle said any check he already would have paid also is included, on the list of matters council has to ratify.
As for what may come later, the city finance director said that could be tackled by new software that was approved at the end of last year, but not installed as yet pending completion of the latest city budget audit.
“We are in the process of transition and training on the new IFM software,” Chiaravalle said. “We did not want to start until after the audit. We did not want to confuse anything.”