Mismanagement and Liabilities and the Taxpayer Never Hears

Mismanagement and Liabilities and the Taxpayer Never Hears

Thirty thousand dollars of taxpayer funds were recently paid out to a Special Commitment Center, S.C.C., resident because that State facility did not timely answer requests for information under the Public Disclosure Act. Over time a number of S.C.C. residents have been so paid due, in part, to poor management at the S.C.C., but the public never hears of it.

S.C.C. residents have won taxpayer dollars not only for lax adherence to statutory law, but have been paid a number of times for civil rights lawsuits; but the public never hears of it. The right to sue and redress grievances against the government is a First Amendment Right, not to be abridged.

A state audit of the Special Commitment Center found, among other things, that the Center “did not ensure fixed assets were adequately tracked and purchase amounts were correct in the Department’s inventory system”, i.e. thousands of taxpayer dollars wasted, year in and year out, and “The Center commissary warehouse inventory was not adequately protected or closely monitored”, i.e. it is known that food items have been stolen by staff in the past, that certain items never used for residents have been purchased for staff parties, and that ultimately, more taxpayer dollars are wasted; but the public never hears of it. There was more found in the State audit indicating misuse and mismanagement, but the public, who is paying for this waste, never hears of it.

Who, ultimately, is responsible for legal and constitutional violations impacting S.C.C. civil status residents, whose attitude and mind set drives the overall environment at the S.C.C., an environment becoming increasingly punitive, again in violation of law when S.C.C. residents are not to be punished, thus establishing a basis for more lawsuits?

Who places more emphasis on punitive security in one of the State’s most secure island facilities rather than the statutorily mandated “individualized” mental health treatment leading, ostensibly, to eventual release. Who, other than the S.C.C. Superintendent, Henry Richards, can be directly held responsible on a daily basis for the lack of adequate and effective management, controls and monitoring, not only where taxpayer dollars are concerned; but held responsible for the fact a large portion of the staff is unhappy with working conditions leading to a large staff ‘turnover’ vis-à-vis almost any other employment in the area. Yet the public never hears of these problems and consequent waste of tax dollars.

Who, but S.C.C. Superintendent Henry Richards, has allowed certain clinical and line staff, caught in thefts from the Center, caught inappropriately in possession of child pornography, caught with illegal drugs, even caught in sexual liaison, to be quietly fired or re-assigned, and the public never hears of it?

S.C.C. residents are not the only individuals who have committed crimes at the S.C.C.. Over time it has been learned that certain present and past clinical, administrative and line staff personnel have criminal records of their own; but the public never hears of it.

Is it not time that the public should be hearing the facts? After all it is the public that pays for this dysfunctional, corrupt and expensive scheme with their tax dollars.