Accounting problems in Norfolk department

Local, Norfolk, Politics 1 Minute

The front page of Monday’s Virginian Pilot contained this story about accounting problems in Norfolk’s Human Services Department.

The department, which has more than 450 employees and a budget of more than $60 million, is responsible for a variety of services, including child welfare, aid to poor families, work force development and juvenile justice. [N. Clark] Earl has led the department since May 2001. In that time, two other reports have found problems related to finances.

OK, so what’s that definition of insanity again? Something like doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Sorry, but the fact that two other reports have found problems, the same director has been at the helm all that time, and now this is going to cost Norfolk taxpayers some $700 million tells me there is some insanity going on downtown.

Overall, the audit’s findings indicate that the department “doesn’t appear to have somebody there to put controls in place,” said Laurie Henry , an Old Dominion University accounting professor who worked for 11 years with the state of Maryland’s tax division.

“What happens with human services groups is they get so focused on delivering services, their accounting systems have poor controls. … I have a feeling whoever is running the department probably is casual about things.”

Yes, Dr. Henry, you are correct that such groups tend to focus on services. But the director of the department has more responsibility than than. This isn’t a private, nonprofit organization that is accountable only to its donors. This is a government department, using taxpayer dollars to run it. I can’t find any excuse for them to not have cleaned up their act after two prior reports found problems.

It is curious, though, that the audit report was released without giving the city a chance to respond. Having been an auditor in both the public and private sectors, I find this quite unusual.

In any event, Earl’s upcoming retirement provides an opportunity to hire a replacement with a more comprehensive background. Hopefully, that’s what the city manager will do.

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7 thoughts on “Accounting problems in Norfolk department”

  1. If that were only true! We would like to think that Clark Earl was so intent on providing services that he let accounting slip. That is not reality. For years, those of us who saw him decimate the Department with his hamstringing (and firing)of personnel causing a mass exodus of dedicated professionals and outsourcing of services to unqualified vendors thought that the City Manager and the City Council must be keeping him because he was saving them money. Now we find out that he was NOT providing quality services and was NOT saving money…then why did he remain there? The City has put yet another place holder (i.e. City Hall regular “yes man”) in to run the Department of Human Services while they look for a replacement. All citizens need to pay very close attention to the process, how long it takes to fill the position and who gets hired. We also need to know why Clark Earl kept his job.

  4. The pilot article quotes:

    “Williams said she informed City Council members of the audit in a confidential memo and that she personally briefed Mayor Paul Fraim. When asked about it, seven of the eight council members said they did not recall being briefed on it.

    “If she says she told me, then she must have,” Fraim said, but he added that he doesn’t recall the conversation or receiving a memo.”

    As a businessman, if someone told me the State was auditing my company, I would certainly be able to “recall” the conversation or “recall” receiving the memo. Now the question begs. Where is the memo? If it exists, the Council and the Mayor are malfeasant.

  6. A lot of these positions – as is true for almost any business – really require someone with serious business skills, including accounting skills. There’s a reason why accounting is taught in B-school – to avoid these problems.

    I’m not job hunting, BTW. I’m just pointing out that there is a tremendous need for people to have a skill set that encompasses more than just providing services.

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