Steaming Joe & Fleecing Taxpayers? While Eyeballing Cincinnati's Spending, State Auditor David Yost Inks Deal for $7 Cups of Coffee

State Money Buys $7 A Person Coffee Breaks

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The Ohio official who bills himself as the watchdog to "skinny down" spending now wants taxpayers to pay for $7 a person coffee breaks.  State Auditor David Yost's office is also buying $17.50 continental breakfasts and $20 lunches on the public's tab. Yost's guests: Investigators who are supposed to search for wasteful spending.   What's interesting, perhaps, is that the school breakfast program for poor kids gets about $1.51 per child for free morning eats compliments of Uncle Sam.  So Yost -- a conservative Republican who says he is frugal -- is paying more than four times as much for his fraud investigators to take a coffee break.
   You can read about the USDA's breakfast program by clicking here. 

At the moment,  the Republican auditor's crew is conducting a performance audit of Cincinnati's Department of Public Services to "skinny down" the agency.  When he started the audit last year, Yost said:  "These are hard times, and the people of Cincinnati are well-served by this decision to use a cutting-edge process to find smart savings."    

Auditor's Contract Shows Costs

Despite the hard times, the coffee and continental breakfasts turned up in a contract that Yost's office has signed with the Hilton Hotel in Columbus (a page from the contract accompanies this post).  Yost's request for the money went to the Controlling Board yesterday.  Here's what the request said:

The Auditor of State's Office requests Controlling Board approval to waive competitive selection in the amount of $86,100.00 for FY12 to contract with the Hilton Columbus, Columbus, Franklin County to provide meeting space and catering services for the 12th Annual Emerging Trends in Fraud Investigation and Prevention Conference. The Conference is a joint effort between the Auditor of State's Office and the Central Ohio Chapter of Certified Fraud Examiners. The conference provides an opportunity for law enforcement officials, financial professionals, private investigators, security professionals, attorneys, city and state employees, and others from across the country to learn from some of the most experienced and innovative investigators in the country. The conference has grown from a one day, one-size-fits-all conference with approximately 150 attendees to a two day, five-track conference offering up-to-the-minute information for hundreds of professionals. The FY11 conference drew over 600 public and private sector professionals from a variety of professions representing 12 states.

You can see Yost's press release from last August announcing the Cincinnati audit.  He said he was coming to town because GOP Councilmember Charlie Winburn sponsored the ordinance for the performance audit:          For Immediate Release            August 4, 2011 Cincinnati Gives Green Light to Performance Audit Department of Public Services to be Audited Columbus - Auditor of State Dave Yost praised the Cincinnati City Council for their unanimous, bipartisan vote yesterday to authorize a performance audit to “skinny down” the city’s Department of Public Services. “These are hard times, and the people of Cincinnati are well-served by this decision to use a cutting-edge process to find smart savings,” Auditor Yost said. “Across the board cuts can endanger vital services. A performance audit can often find savings through efficiencies and best practices that will preserve the level of service.” On June 13, 2011, the Cincinnati City Council passed a motion to engage the Auditor of State’s office to identify cost savings through a performance audit of all city departments and divisions. These departments include public services, police and fire administration, transportation and engineering, building and inspections, and enterprise technology solutions. In a unanimous vote yesterday, council passed an emergency funding ordinance to authorize the transfer of $80,000 to conduct a performance audit. The focus of this audit will be the Department of Public Services. The ordinance was sponsored by Councilman Charlie Winburn, and the scope of the performance audit will include an analysis of the city’s sanitation and facilities management operations and fleet services. Performance audits are designed to provide cost savings, revenue enhancements, and/or efficiency improvements. The process usually takes four to six months to complete and will provide city leaders with recommendations in the form of a report. City leaders also will receive regular updates from the Auditor of State’s office throughout the audit period to aid the city in the decision-making process for the next budget cycle.