LOS ANGELES - The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy mismanaged $7 million in bond money approved by voters to acquire and preserve parkland, according to a recent state audit.
The conservancy failed to “adequately manage, control, or oversee” funds while spending on “excessive” overhead charges, legal fees, administrative costs, sick pay and vacation, state Department of Finance auditors said in the report.
“They’re not spending funds in line with the bond measures,” said Samuel E. Hull, chief of the Office of State Audits and Evaluations. “Some of the things they did I’ve never seen before.”
Conservancy officials defended the group.
“I don’t know what the numbers are, and I don’t care what the numbers are, frankly. All I know is we are the most successful land acquisition agency in the state of California,” said Jerome C. Daniel, the conservancy’s chairman and a board member. “It bothers me to be questioned about the way we’re doing business, when what really matters is the end result.”
The conservancy, an arm of the state Resources Agency, has obtained nearly 55,000 acres of open space in Los Angeles and Ventura counties since it was created in 1980. Its purchases expanded the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to 154,000 acres.
The audit criticizes the conservancy’s land-management authority for assessing fees to cover administrative overhead that auditors say were “grossly out of proportion to services provided.”
The conservancy also used $4.2 million in bond money for authority costs like education and planning instead of parkland and spent nearly $1.2 million on legal charges and a loan to cover a legal judgment, the report states.
The audit accuses conservancy Executive Director Joseph Edmiston of making unallowable expenditures such as $1,716 in long-distance telephone charges from Mexico and $577 in room service that exceeded state travel allowances.
Edmiston described the audit as “constructive,” but disputed several findings. The conservancy, for example, was forced to channel bond money for operating costs because it received little state funding, he said.
At the same time, the organization agreed to change some practices, and Edmiston reimbursed the conservancy for outlays the report said were inappropriate.
The audit looks at spending through June 2003 and $115 million in bond money from Propositions 12, 13 and 40.
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Landed gentry - Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy accountable to no one
Los Angeles Daily News
June 7, 2004
Los Angeles -- the second-largest city in the world -- is surrounded by thousands of acres of open land, wilderness and parks. They are among the city’s greatest assets.
Much of the credit for preserving this land goes to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, and its land czar leader, Joseph Edmiston, who fought back the bulldozers on the city’s priciest property.
But even good organizations can go astray. And a recent state Department of Finance audit provides ample evidence that the conservancy has misused millions of dollars in public funds.
Voter-approved Propositions 12, 13 and 40 gave the conservancy $115 million in bonds to spend on parkland. According to the audit, the conservancy has mismanaged at least $7 million of that money, using it on legal fees, personal travel expenses and long-distance calls for Edmiston.
Given the oversight void in which the conservancy has been operating, excesses were inevitable. The conservancy staff and board operate with virtually no accountability to the public or even the state, which is nominally responsible for it. The conservancy was created by the state Legislature in 1980 with the goal of preserving significant portions of the Santa Monica Mountains from rampant development.
The organization has done that -- and much, much more, saving about 55,000 acres of parkland in the region.
Conservancy officials responded to the audit by saying, essentially, why does it matter if the money is being spent if we’re getting things done?
That’s been the attitude Edmiston has displayed for a long time and it’s unacceptable. This is the public’s money and taxpayers have a right to know it is being spent wisely and for their benefit.
There’s no question that the conservancy has acted in the popular interest of Californians by saving thousands of acres of priceless open space for everyone to use. But the system under which it’s operating needs to be rethought.
It’s time for the state Legislature to revisit the structure of the conservancy and force the organization to operate in the sunshine, accountable to the public for which it is working. When $7 million can be misspent before anyone bats an eye, it means the system is operating too far in the dark shadows.
When CA suffers a further fiscal collapse... Then EVERYBODY will be screamin at the danged full moon, sayin "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE???"