Yes, the Accountant’s case settled for forty something, plus legal and audit fees. Not the point. It turns out that the Accountant got a new job and that limits damages. Regardless of the amount, I stand by the fact that our 2012 budget in already in the red by mid to high six figures and I expect the number to be well in excess of $1,000,000 by next June. That is of course, assuming we can get the books closed and see the real numbers.

Don’t forget that Andrews and the rest can and do read this stuff. If you think these posts are not having an affect on what they are doing, you are wrong.

The issues are several with the accountant matter. One of the problems with real time info is that it represents what the parties are talking about then, that day or at that time. It does not mean it will turn out that way and the louder we yell about it the less likely it is to happen. Some people in town hall were absolutely looking at a much larger settlement.  Things change. The point is that Andrews praised, raised and then fired the Town’s Accountant in the face of $900,000 un-accounted for. I think $900,000 is the tip of the iceberg. The issue is not the amount.

I’ve repeatedly suggested that the larger question is what the Accountant would have testified to and clearly, that must be a concern of the BOS and TA as well because they put a gag order on the settlement terms and the accountant’s ability to tell us what happened. WHY? What are they afraid the Accountant would say, that she did everything she was told to do by Andrews or others, or that perhaps she also put her objections, comments and concerns into emails which can be had by an information request. Perhaps in addition to the TA, there are also members of the BOS, past and present who have email trials regarding this matter, which are also public information. That is the issue!

How does a woman who had been a successful municipal accountant with a pretty clean record just forget the law or start doing things that do not meet the accepted standards of accounting? She does not. Many people will recall that this town went a couple years without properly closing its books. This matter goes back before Andrews, all the way to the prior administration, but I’m not going to ask for the records.

At the end of the day, does anyone believe that the accountant would not have understood that the financial problems would eventually come to light? Isn’t it more likely than not that she told someone? Wouldn’t she have known that unless she had a defense she would be the one blamed? Of course she would have known. So who is really to blame and what else are they hiding is the question, and the answers are right there if someone looks or asks for the right stuff.