Read The Operational Audit

By BAIRD HELGESON, LINDSAY PETERSON and ANTHONY McCARTNEY
The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - The Florida auditor general’s office released a harsh final report on Hillsborough County’s expressway authority on Thursday, renewing calls from lawmakers who favor overhauling or even disbanding the beleaguered agency.

“This gives us what we need to further our case for restructuring the authority,” said state Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, a steady critic of the agency.

The 28-page report reaffirmed earlier findings that the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority is sloppily run and spent public money with little regard for the public interest. The 43-year-old agency built and operates the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway. Tolls from the expressway pay salaries and consultant expenses.

The auditor general, which has no enforcement power, continued to fault the authority’s hiring of outside lobbyists and said the agency created a conflict of interest when it named Jim Drapp interim executive director. Drapp is a contractor with the agency.

Authority members tapped Drapp for the top job after former director Ralph Mervine resigned Nov. 8 when confronted by the Tribune about his ownership of a pornography production company in San Diego.

Spokeswoman Defends Authority

Authority spokeswoman Honey Rand acknowledged that the expressway could do things better but said the final report contained no surprises.

She said the agency thinks it has the right to hire lobbyists and has no plans to stop.

The auditor general originally raised its issues in a preliminary report on Nov. 29 to which the authority responded three weeks later. On the lobbyist issue, authority interim counsel Rhea Law defended its contract with John Beck of Beck Consulting Group. She said that in addition to lobbying for the authority, Beck has vast experience as a transportation consultant.

Auditors found that the authority paid Beck and his associates $1.5 million from July 2001 to June. The report says those contracts could violate state law and should be canceled.

Board member Gwen Miller, also a member of the Tampa City Council, said she long had raised questions about the authority’s lobbying contract with Beck.

“I wanted to cancel Mr. Beck’s contract, and the board voted me down,” she said.

Former board member Tom Scott was the only other member who favored ending Beck’s contract. Scott, then a Hillsborough County commissioner, and Miller were the only two people on the seven-member board not appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush or his administration.

Miller said she will try again to persuade the board to discontinue its lobbying relationship with Beck: “We need to correct what we’ve done.”

Board member Robert Clark Jr. said he had a copy of the report but had not reviewed it.

“We’ll take a look at it, and now that we have a new executive director, he’ll do what he needs to do,” he said.

Rand said the conflict with the interim director will be resolved Jan. 18 when Steve Reish takes the position.

She said the authority is preparing a plan to correct other problems detailed by the auditor general and will have it ready by the board’s Jan. 8 meeting.

“We hope to implement the changes and get back to business,” Rand said.

The final audit included the Nov. 29 preliminary report and the authority’s answers.

Several Practices Questioned

The auditor general said he continues to question several authority practices.

•The auditor general disagreed with the authority’s contention that it is cost efficient and said it needs to better document expenses and salaries. Nine employees received pay raises of 8.1 percent to 13.6 percent during the 2005-06 fiscal year with no justification.

•The auditor general said personnel records should be current, including evidence the employees have the necessary licenses and that the reasons for salary increases are documented. Eleven of 12 personnel files lacked employment applications. Three employee files were missing evidence of professional licenses or certification.

•The authority was wrong to pay Assistant Director Mary Hall’s salary while she was on leave to attend law school. The auditor general questioned why the authority would help prepare an employee for another profession.

Bush called for the audit after the authority came under fire for what some called excessive legal and lobbyist contracts and other apparent mismanagement. The auditor general has no authority to force the changes but will do another audit in 18 months.

Florida lawmakers, who created the expressway authority, do have the power to force changes.

Crist said the authority board should be reconstituted to include more people who are accountable to the voters. Two or three current members should remain to ensure that critical business doesn’t fall behind.

Crist said the board has spent too much money on lawyers and lobbyists more interested in protecting themselves than carrying out the business of the day.

“That’s got to stop,” Crist said.

Rep. Kevin Ambler, R-Lutz, urged caution.

He said auditor general’s reports don’t always tell the whole story.

The local legislative delegation will meet with the board Jan. 13 to discuss legal fees, consulting services and other issues.

“You can’t look at an auditor’s report in a vacuum,” he said.

Reporter Baird Helgeson can be reached at (813) 259-7668

Get Weekly Deals | Write a letter to the editor | Subscribe and get two weeks free | Place an Ad