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EAST COUNTY FREE • Thursday, JANUARY 17, 2013
You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.
NEWS
School teams up for equine learning. PAGE 10A
OUR TOWN + Mario Andretti headlines opening Race Car legend Mario Andretti is coming to town. Andretti will help Dan and Diane Hennelly celebrate the grand opening of their new Firestone Complete Auto Care center, The Tire Choice, from 10:40 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22, at the store, 5720 Ranch Lake Blvd., Bradenton. The event will begin with a special presentation and ribbon-cutting ceremony. Andretti will be available to meet with fans and sign autographs starting at 11 a.m. Andretti says he’s eager to visit an area that is familiar to him and his family, as well.
+ Production team announces grants Salt & Light Productions, a Lakewood Ranch-based, award-winning project of the Center for Faith and Freedom, has awarded cost-sharing grants for the production of multimedia presentations for the following organizations and agencies: Amazing Love Healing Ministries, Fairy Tail Endings, Family Network on Disabilities of Manatee/Sarasota, National Association of Professional Agents and New Vision for Independence.
+ River Club resident moderates panel River Club resident and retired broadcaster Fulton Lewis moderated a panel discussion for the Broadcasters Club of Florida Friday, Jan. 11, at Sara Bay Country Club. The discussion focused on the relationship between the media and American politics. Guest panelists included: Joe Gruters, chairman of the Republican Party of Sarasota; Susan Nilon, general manager of WSRQ radio station in Sarasota; veteran Rich Swier, editor of WatchdogWire.com/Florida; and author Richard Skinner, assistant professor of political science at New College of Florida.
BUSINESS
NEIGHBORHOOD
John Neal is ready to capitalize on homebuilding surge. PAGE 12A
Two area residents are heading up a successful MIA recovery group. PAGE 1B
allocated blame
by Josh Siegel | Staff Writer
Audit blames employee for budget deficit Navigant says a lack of oversight, faulty systems and poor coordination are reasons for the Manatee County Schools deficit. EAST COUNTY — As Navigant employees explained their 200-page-plus audit report to the public for the first time at a Jan. 14 workshop, Manatee County School Board members sat back in their chairs, silenced, and took in the reality of the moment. Auditors blamed former Assistant Superintendent Jim Drake for the Manatee County School Board’s 2011-12 $3.4 million budget deficit but faulted him for incompetence —not criminal or illegal activity. Albert Robinson, of Navigant, formerly with the FBI, said former Superintendent Tim McGonegal, who resigned in September when the deficit was announced, had no knowledge of errors in budgeting until July. But, in January 2012, McGonegal had requested Drake’s retirement, due to continuous budget mistakes. Drake retired a month later. Michael Boyer, the district’s chief financial officer, was brought on in May 2012, at which time he assumed oversight of the budget. But Drake was responsible
for the budget as its direct manager, investigators said. Robinson said Drake had installed a flawed labor-intensive computing process to replace a reliable real-time method — which had been in place for 10 years — that tracked employee compensation and benefits. The flawed process resulted in the district failing to properly budget for employee benefits, teacher salaries and recurrent programs such as Manatee Technical Institute. It produced errors in 17 of 18 schools the auditors tested. The report, compiled from more than 30 interviews — including ones with Drake and McGonegal — hundreds of budget entries, financial statements and emails, found a “lack of proper management support, oversight and leadership in the budget process.” After being alerted to the deficit, McGonegal and finance department staff reviewed accounting records to find errors that would eliminate and correct the deficit.
SEE DEFICIT / PAGE 8A
STEERING THE WAY
ERASING FUTURE OVERSIGHTS Eight recommendations Navigant offered to reduce future likelihood of undetected funds: • • • • • • • •
A semblance of the old, real-time database should be reinstated. Manatee County Schools Interim Superintendent David Gayler said that process has begun. Additional staff should be added to support the budget activities of the district. Gayler says the district is in the process of reorganizing its finance department. Provide the board with more detailed and timely financial statements. Expand the use of reserves to ensure expenditures don’t exceed appropriated levels. Gayler says this is under way. Ensure the initial annual budget includes all significant programs. Gayler says the district will install a line-item budget process. Duties of the Internal Audit Committee should be expanded to include analysis of textbook budgets. Duties of the director of finance should be evaluated to determine if budget oversight responsibilities should be expanded. Develop written policies and procedures. Gayler called this “a no-brainer.”
by Josh Siegel | Staff Writer
County fair is the biggest, most challenging yet Higher feed prices have forced Youth Livestock Show exhibitors in the 97th Manatee County Fair to get creative to sell their steer.
Lakewood Ranch senior Taylor Johnson with her steer
Josh Siegel
EAST COUNTY — The 97th edition of the Manatee County Fair will be known, more than ever, for the effort that went into making it happen — from organizers to participants. When more than 170,000 people (Fair Manager Dan West hopes) walk the 32acre fairgrounds, Jan. 17 through Jan. 27, in Palmetto, they will see a revamped arena, filled with sand from nine dump trucks, to meet the increased demand for dairy and swine projects in the Youth Livestock Show. More than 100 volunteers transformed the fair to accommodate nearly 50 rides,
musical acts, food vendors, arts-andcrafts exhibits and livestock shows. The grounds are decorated with movie posters and life-size character cutouts to show this year’s theme, “Going Hollywood.” Characters dressed as Barney Fife and John Wayne will stroll around, probably walking on the Hollywood Walk of Fame replica, which organizers custom built. And, then, there’s the extra handwritten letters, networking, showmanship practice and out-of-pocket money that
SEE FAIR / PAGE 8A
INDEX Business.............. 8B Calendar............ 14A
Classifieds ........ 17B Cops Corner....... 16A
Crossword.......... 16B Real Estate.......... 9B
Sports................ 17A Weather............. 16B
Vol. 14, No. 3 | Two sections YourObserver.com