Sandy auditor let go after criticizing state

Times Union ^ | January 17, 2013 | James M. Odato

[george76]

Consultant hired to examine Sandy spending says his report led to dismissal.

An independent consultant who examined New York's spending for Superstorm Sandy found what he believes are questionable transactions and practices, including poor oversight of the use of state credit cards, orders for a fleet of SUVs and the purchase of iPads that did not seem necessary for recovery efforts.

The consultant, who was expelled by the state after issuing a series of recommendations to improve procurement practices, said it appeared from his examination that government officials bought and rented equipment that should have been stockpiled or lined up months or years earlier, and sought to acquire assets that didn't seem necessary for the immediate tasks at hand.

"They're trying to get stuff that would be cool to have, but we don't really need it for this incident — but maybe we can get the feds to pay for it," said Thomas Sadowski, the consultant.

He said many pieces of equipment were nearly impossible to track once put into the field, including millions of dollars in light towers, pumps, generators and provisions. As a result, the state was unsure what it owned, leased or lost during the immediate response to the late October hurricane, Sadowski said.

Sadowski, a 63-year-old licensed certified public accountant since 1983 who retired after 32 years with the federal government, said he was escorted from the New York Office of Emergency Management shortly after he filed a report on Nov. 17 that was critical of some practices.

[Sherman Logan]

You are quite correct in your comments.

Emergency response is an entirely different animal from a “normal” project.

Although insurance adjusters, auditors and others who come in after the fact to decide who gets paid and how much never seem to appreciate that fact.

The closest analogy I can think of is target shooting vs. combat. The mechanisms seem pretty close, but the reality is utterly different.

[jazusamo]

Hardly a surprise they sent Sadowski packing, he wasn’t going along with the corruption but making waves. Noticed the word union wasn’t mentioned once in the article.

Thanks for the ping.

[Girlene]

Wow....thanks for the info. Good for this auditor......this is our money.

[Terry Mross]

I can see Christy ending up in prison. There’s someting about him. And he’s from NJ.

[bigheadfred]

.this is our money.

Not any more. (

[Fledermaus]

You did NOT whip up execution in 24 hours before expending your first resources.

And why should government spending? Any quick infusion of cash SHOULD have been planned for in long term contingency and insurance. The spending for repairs and replacement of infrastructure should be planned. The only "quick" spending I've done is on changes during the project or add-ons and that was even done with a plan even though it was executed quickly.

As to my projects, I should have said "projects with millions of dollars" and not just $1 mil. No more quick writing late at night!

As usual with unaccountable government, they just saw another slush fund to buy goodies for themselves. I wonder how much of what is bought (Ipads, etc.) in the first few days end up at the homes of employees.