“Fairfield officials guilty of gross mismanagement of public resources” would have been a more appropriate tittle of The Voice’s Sept. 11 headline article.
A memo to those Fairfield government officials (current/former) who are giddy about the SLED investigation results: there is no honor, nor any true vindication, in being shielded from prosecution by self-generated mismanagement. In reality, a true moral crime was actually perpetrated upon the citizens by the loose (no bid) procurement practices by some Fairfield County officials.
In 2009, while commencing his war on government no-bid contracts, President Obama declared such procurement practices as “ineffective” and “wasteful.” The President’s astute analysis of the negative impact of a reliance upon no-bid contracts was met with near universal support, except, apparently in the Fairfield government hierarchy.
Yes, Fairfield bucked all conventional wisdom and continued its wasteful and crony plagued management practices. What resulted is a County spending spree which doubled the per capita spending of its 18 peer counties; and with so little to show for it. What resulted is wanting services for those who need them the most because of mismanaged resources.
Was there true “vindication” in SLED’s investigation? No! Will the negative lessons of the gross mismanagement be leveraged by our new government team? We will see.
Randy Bright
Ridgeway
Right on, Randy! The voice of this new Council MUST be heard SOON!!!