The $1 Million Question
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Two years ago, we started asking the County for something simple. One place where taxpayers can see where their money goes.
Not a spreadsheet buried on a website. A dashboard. One page. What got spent, who got it, how much, and why.
We’re still asking.
Along the way, we found something. About $1 million in spending that looks unnecessary to us. We brought it to the County’s attention. That was two years ago too, and we still haven’t gotten much of an answer.
A million dollars is real money. It came out of paychecks and small businesses and Social Security checks in the neighborhoods we cover. If there’s a way to save it, we’d have thought the County would want to find it before we did.
Here’s the other thing we’d like explained. If the County is spending around $1 million, why did it go to three vendors?
Maybe three is fine. We don’t know, and that’s the point. Who else was in the running? Who bid? What did each one get paid? What made these three the choice?
Competition is how government gets a decent price. That’s the whole reason it exists. So let’s see the competition. If there was a good reason to keep the list short, say it out loud. People around here can handle a straight answer. What they can’t do is guess.
Which brings it back to the dashboard. Nobody should have to be an accountant to read a county budget. Put it in one place. Vendor, contract, amount, purpose, how it was awarded. If getting that takes a public-records request and a free weekend, the system isn’t working.
I want to be clear about something. We’re not looking for a fight. We’d rather run the answers than keep running the questions.
So the offer stands. If the million dollars is necessary, tell us why and we’ll print it. If there was a real bidding process, show it and we’ll report it. If three vendors was the right call, walk us through how you got there. That’s a story we’d be glad to write.
County officials say all the time that every dollar counts.
We agree. So let’s act like it.
We don’t mind being told we’re wrong. We’d just like somebody to tell us something.
Questions, ideas or a tip?
If you know something about County contracts, spending, or how vendors get picked, reach out. We follow up on every credible tip, and we don’t burn sources.
Email Grant at grant@cnews.net
Or text Grant at 305-323-8206
And if you want to see that spending dashboard, call your County Commissioner and say so. Those offices do answer the phone.
More of our County spending coverage at communitynewspapers.com.
