Posted on 02/22/2005 8:27:12 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO (AP) - State Auditor Elaine Howle said Tuesday that the secretary of state's office is "headed in the right direction" to better manage millions of dollars in federal election funds, but she acknowledged it's still too early to tell if a lasting turnaround is in place.
Howle, testifying one week before Secretary of State Kevin Shelley was scheduled to step down from the state's top elections post, said Shelley's office has showed progress toward removing a "cloud" over its operations.
A consulting firm hired by the office also detailed its work toward tightening the scandal-tinged operation within the next month, but Shelley was a no-show.
Though agreeing Jan. 12 to testify, he resigned Feb. 4 amid numerous state and federal investigations into charges of mishandling federal money, accepting questionable campaign contributions, bending state hiring rules to reward political supporters and creating an abusive workplace environment, including allegations of sexual harassment.
In turn, Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, D-Hanford, dropped her earlier insistence that he testify Tuesday before the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, while keeping options open to call him as a witness in the future.
Tuesday's post-resignation committee meeting session included frequent instances of partisan clashes in which Republicans vowed to "get to the bottom" of allegations against Shelley, while some Democrats hinted the need for hearings may be past.
Testimony by Howle and others came during the committee's second hearing on Howle's December audit that concluded that the secretary of state's office mismanaged some of California's $46 million in 2002 Help America Vote Act funds.
In that report, Howle charged Shelley with poorly overseeing his staff and consultants, some of whom allegedly attended Democratic events and fund-raisers and promoted Shelley's political profile.
Though Howle did not accuse Shelley of breaking state or federal laws, her audit painted a picture of an office that missed deadlines, bent the state's competitive bidding rules and failed in its responsibility to modernize voting systems.
Tuesday, Howle said management of a state agency is a team effort, but noted in a response to questions that "the tone comes from the top."
Representatives of a Florida-based government consulting firm, MGT of America, also testified Tuesday about efforts to fix internal controls at the secretary of state's office. The firm recently won a two-year $700,000 contract with the office to oversee use of HAVA funds.
Senior MGT partner Fred Forrer told the committee, "We've identified all HAVA mandates. We've identified the activities that need to be done to comply with that mandate, identified the person in the secretary of state's office to do it and identified a target date to get it done."
Forrer added, "From every executive I've interacted with at the secretary of state's office, I've received a very common direction: 'Do whatever needs to be done to get the corrective actions in place and get it done quickly.'"
A federal audit, meanwhile, is also under way regarding Shelley's use of the elections funds, among nearly $4 billion approved by Congress to modernize the nation's voting machinery, boost voter education and guard against voter disenfranchisement after Florida's 2000 presidential election debacle. The U.S. Election Commission, which oversees the spending, authorized the audit of $27.3 million sent to California in 2003.
With Shelley's departure imminent, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week nominated former Republican state Sen. Bruce McPherson of Santa Cruz to replace him. The Legislature's Democratic majority has 90 days after Shelley's departure to confirm or deny Schwarzenegger's appointment.
Schwarzenegger has called upon lawmakers to quickly confirm McPherson to stabilize the office and assure that California continues to receive its $350 million federal allocation.
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California Secretary of State: http://www.ss.ca.gov
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