Port of Seattle makes the case for audits
Some would like to cut these performance audits from the state budget, supposedly saving money. Now is when we need them most.
Let's give some credit where credit is due. Despite the fact that the words "Port of Seattle" put readers to sleep, local newspapers have been trying to penetrate the inner workings of the Port for years. Historically, the Port not only hasn't been transparent; it hasn't even been even translucent. Even it own elected Port Commissioners, charged with oversight, have been fooled, stonewalled and bamboozled. The media has chiseled away at the granite wall with some success, but getting at the foul center of the Port's operations has been nigh on impossible.
But the Port was an early target for a new state performance audit, a program passed by voters in 2005 that permits the state auditor to go in and look at the practices and effectiveness of public agencies — not just state agencies, but the hundreds of local entities that often operate in the dark or with little attention being paid.
In the case of the Port, its audit raised serious questions about Port practices and found evidence of waste, possible fraud and ethics violations. The result was a major internal investigation, with results revealed in early December when former U.S. attorney Mike McKay released a scathing look that justified journalists' and Port-watchdogs' suspicions (and amplified their legwork). The performance audit wasn't the end of the process; in some senses it was the beginning. It cast some daylight where it was needed until reinforcements could come with Klieg lights. In this one case, if not others, the performance audit program proved its value.
State Auditor Brian Sonntag was just re-elected this November. The performance audit program he oversees was a people's initiative, resisted by many at the state and in the Legislature. The argument was made that it could be a political tool in the wrong hands, though no one outright accused Sonntag of trying to use his position to jump into higher office. The fact that the audit program was a Tim Eyman initiative also soured many simply because of their dislike and distrust for the man. But Sonntag has made enemies in Olympia and elsewhere too with his independence and aggressiveness. Bureaucracies don't like loose canons, or grandstanders.
Now that the state is facing a $5-6 billion budget shortfall and knives are being sharpened, the voter-approved performance audits are on the chopping block, appearing on the state's "do not buy" (pdf) list. Perhaps the time has come to lop them off, saving more than $20 million, and let leaner government be its own watchdog again — a half-starved beast perhaps can't get into as much mischief. Sonntag tells me he's "a bit surprised" at finding the program a budget target. Some newspaper columnists are weighing in on his side (see here and here). The gist, and I agree with it, is that now is precisely the time when such a program can prove its worth. Targeted audits can leverage reform, as in the case of the Port of Seattle. They can increase confidence in public agencies.
Sonntag says that they're a valuable tool for identifying savings and revenue sources too. In an email to me (in response to a question) he writes:
To date, our first 14 performance audits have produced 574 specific recommendations and identified $4.1 billion in potential cost savings, unnecessary spending, uncollected delinquent debt, and potential economic benefits. Compare that with the combined audit cost of $14.1 million. Much of that could help state government confront its budget shortfall. For example, our audit of debt collection found that the state could bring in $320 million in uncollected delinquent debt simply by using follow-up phone calls and other practices.
Sonntag says he'll be meeting with the governor "soon" to discuss the audits and says she's been supportive in the past. Let's hope she doesn't become pennywise and pound foolish when it comes to public accountability — especially when it can help root out savings, identify revenue sources and expose incompetence and fraud. The fact is, leaner government is going to need those things as much, maybe even more, than a well-fed beast.
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Comments:
Posted Mon, Dec 8, 6:47 a.m. inappropriate
Not to worry Knute, todays TIMES reports that it is NOT unconstituional for the State of Washington to run a deficit, they simply need to PROPOSE a balanced budget. So rather that take any of the suggestions for saving Billions by the auditor, the State will no doubt increase spending ...or as the Governor will say "investments" and dig the hole deeper.
Posted Mon, Dec 8, 7:44 a.m. inappropriate
Amen. Brian Sonntag was reelected by a huge margin and deserves voters' trust. His performance audits are opposed by public and quasi-public agencies and elected officials with something to hide. His recent audit of the Port of Seattle unearthed abuses that were suspected but not previously brought to public light. Do not believe anyone who says discontinuance of performance audits would save public money. Take their names and reject them at the next election.
Posted Mon, Dec 8, 7:44 a.m. inappropriate
Amen. Brian Sonntag was reelected by a huge margin and deserves voters' trust. His performance audits are opposed by public and quasi-public agencies and elected officials with something to hide. His recent audit of the Port of Seattle unearthed abuses that were suspected but not previously brought to public light. Do not believe anyone who says discontinuance of performance audits would save public money. Take their names and reject them at the next election.
Posted Mon, Dec 8, 8:33 a.m. inappropriate
Ted Van Dyk's comment exemplifies some of his less enjoyable habits as a writer--which I would love to see more often addressed by either him or his editors at Crosscut. "Brian Sonntag (A) was reelected by a huge margin and (B) deserves voters' trust." Both points may be true, but logically B does not follow from A. I wish Mr. Van Dyk would work harder to communicate in a logically persuasive manner instead of just asserting his opinions and then stamping his feet for emphasis.
Posted Mon, Dec 8, 12:34 p.m. inappropriate
Ted Van Dyke is right on the money in his criticism of public and quasi-public agencies and elected officials.
The Washington Department of Transportation is a serial hater of performance audits, and that department has had its water on that subject carried in the Washington Legislature by some prominent elected officials who've even gone so far as to attempt to block Brian Sonntag-led efforts to audit the agency...and I have copies of letters from him to them to prove it.
If anything, the audit process and requiring implementation of results needs to be strengthened. The September 2007 PA of Washington State Ferries containted recommendations that could save taxpayers over $100 million over ten years, well more than enough to build at least one new desparately needed ferry.
Yet, WSF and DOT, its parent agency, pigeonholed the recommendations for "study" in such a way that several years of savings opportunities are now lost. Why? Because implementation would have required taking on the maritime unions to bargain out restrictive work rules and bargain in cost-saving flexibility. WSF failed to even broach the subjects during bargaining for new ferry-worker collective bargaining agreements.
Can't get the unions made at us, now, can we?
Trash-canning performance audits is throwing the baby out with the bath water. But this is Washington where that's the rule, not the exception.
The Piper
Posted Tue, Dec 9, 11:02 a.m. inappropriate
The cleaning of the Port of Seattle will be a task akin to the cleaning of the Augean stables, but undertaking such a venture is long overdue. From my relationships with former firms that were contracted by the port to provide services, the croneyism is systemic and amounts to theft from the public. Sonntag is just the kind of person to sit watchdog over their operations. Now if we can just convince the state legislature that he needs to have that the authority of enforcement over state agencies.
Posted Tue, Dec 9, 12:39 p.m. inappropriate
I am thankful for Sonntag's work. He seems to be to be a competent and ethical public servant who is performing a valuable public function. The proof that he is doing his job is that he has rattled some people - if everyone liked him it would only demonstrate he was ineffectual in his job.
Tying back into an earlier article by Knute on public infrastructure, it is critical to protect important public projects against abuse by public officials and private contractors. We are the biggest debtor nation in the world and we cannot afford for our public agencies to make bad decisions in regards to managing and building significant public infrastructure.
Posted Tue, Dec 9, 6:56 p.m. inappropriate
I wonder what Senator Ed Murray, who is a business consultant in the Port of Seattle, knew about any of this? If the corruption is as prevalent as it appears to be, was he aware of the situation?
Posted Thu, Dec 11, 3:56 p.m. inappropriate
Hello Cameron:
I am so glad you are interested in the work our part time legislators do out of session, very interesting.
I had a contract with the Port several years ago and earned about $3,000. I doubled check to make sure it met the ethic requirements related to employment for part time legislators. In addition as I have in the past, I hired an attorney at my own expense to review the contract. We added language clearly stating what I could not do as a legislator.
I did not work on the issues in question (no one has ever asked, so thank you) and was I was not involved with the administration of the Port (if I had been then give the amount I was paid I think that should have raised questions about my own stupidity).
Thanks,
Ed Murray
Posted Thu, Dec 11, 9:56 p.m. inappropriate
The Port has been audited many times without any revelations. McKay makes the case for auditors, rather than audits.
While I wish him success, I wonder how long before bureaucrats and commentators will tire of St. John, and consign him to the same fate as other reformers.
For example, the auditor who wrote the report on Brightwater no longer works for King County, while Ron Sims and others still do.