Thursday, January 2, 2014

(Santa Barbara) Grand jury criticizes city of Lompoc inaction


December 30, 2013 11:29 am  • 

The city of Lompoc “has engaged in conduct detrimental to its citizens’ best interests” by not adopting an audit policy for nonprofit organizations receiving taxpayer funds, the Santa Barbara County Grand Jury said in a report released today.

“Lompoc citizens are poorly served by this dilatory governmental behavior. Until the city adopts an effective non-profit audit policy, taxpayers will continue to be placed at risk for further unnecessary financial harm,” the report says.

Despite agreeing to do so, the city of Lompoc has not implemented a requirement for organizations receiving city grants and loans to submit annual audits.

The grand jury notes that the city agreed to do so in its September 2012 response to a Santa Barbara County Grand Jury report entitled “A Failure of Oversight.”

The report, released in June 2012, examined the Lompoc Housing and Community Development Corporation, or LHCDC, and concluded the city and its Redevelopment Agency were lax in enforcing restrictive covenants and other agreements with LHCDC, an independent housing agency. Lompoc lost approximately $1.8 million when LHCDC properties became insolvent, according to the report.

The entire report can be found on the jury’s website at sbcgj.org.

The Santa Barbara County Civil Grand Jury is government watchdog organization made up of civilians.

1 comment:

cgjaprguy said...

To grand jurors, past and present. This is an example of a jury practicing follow up on implementation as we have explained in our training seminars.

Jerry Lewi, CGJA