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Roberts: Valley Metro took taxpayers for a ride Laurie Roberts, The Republic | azcentral.com 4:41 p.m. MST April 28, 2016 Another day, another shameful frittering away of the public’s money. An audit of Valley Metro paints a picture of a free spending CEO, a rubber stamping CFO and a pair of boards that were AWOL when it comes to oversight. The result: $315,000 in disallowed or undocumented expenses – all paid for by youknowwho. The audit says that then-CEO Stephen Banta spent $41,000 in “unallowable” expenses and another $231,000 in questionable spending. That’s not counting the tens of thousands in lavish dinners for clients who weren’t actually even there, according to an investigation by The Republic’s Craig Harris. The Attorney General’s Office is looking at those expenses as part of a possible criminal investigation and asked auditors not to go there. Banta, Valley Metro’s CEO from 2010 until his resignation in January following Harris' revelations, dinged taxpayers regularly and rather regally as he spent what appears to be years relocating from Portland to the Valley. In all, we paid nearly $300,000 to move his freespending hindquarters to Arizona. That includes $115,000 relocation expenses, $88,529 in temporary housing expenses, $55,000 in what are termed "one-time expenses" and nearly $30,000 for 56 round-trip tickets to Portland as part of what must have been the world’s most prolonged relocation. Most of those trips were for his wife. We also paid to feed the Valley Metro staff 198 times. I could go on. And on on what the auditors found. It all comes down to this: A CEO who misused funds. A CFO who allowed it. An oversight board that was clueless about it. And once again, taxpayers are on the hook. Or, as it turns out, are we? To add considerable insult to injury, we owe Banta, who resigned in December, a $265,000 annuity for all those (read: four) years of service. My recommendation: Don’t pay him a nickel of it. Not a plug nickel. Phoenix City Council Supports crook Stephen BantaWhen the Arizona Republic first discovered all suspicious activities, most of the members of the Phoenix City Council offered him a golden parachute, to get out of the way and prevent more dirt from being discovered. I think those Phoenix City Council members are:Greg Stanton, Mayor Other articles on Valley Metro CEO and crook Stephen Banta
Other articles on Valley Metro
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