Spending allegations should cause outrage

Here we go again.

It was revealed today that warrants were issued today after an audit of the spending habits at the Greater Roanoke Transit Company (GRTC), which runs Valley Metro.

In a letter to the members of the Roanoke City Council, who serve as the board of directors for GRTC, Roanoke City Auditor Drew Harmon broke down the spending issues. He wrote:

    • GRTC expended $223,301 on furniture, artwork, and other miscellaneous office decor beginning in August 2007.
    • The interior designer for the project was Diane Holdren, wife of Chip Holdren, GRTC Assistant General Manager.
    • Diane Holdren acted as the dealer for the furniture manufacturer used.
    • Federal Transit money was used to fund 80% of the purchase.
    • Federal regulations require competitive sealed bidding for purchases over $100,000 and prohibits doing business with related parties, such as spouses. 
    • A competitive bidding process was not utilized.
    • Written quotes provided to my office by GRTC were determined to be forgeries based on interviews with vendors. 
    • My office worked with a local vendor to estimate the market price of the furniture purchased using August 2007 pricing. We estimate that GRTC paid $55,626 [~29.3%] more than a competitive market price for the same make and model furniture.

Keep in mind, just 18 months ago it was revealed that Roanoke City Councilmember Alfred Dowe had double-billed the state and city for travel expenses. The allegations quickly forced Dowe from council.

After it, members of council and the mayor said the incident shows how the city needs to be more vigilant about how taxpayer money is being spent. They said it was important to restore the people’s faith in our government.

Is this how you accomplish that? Is this how the people are supposed to believe that their hard-earned money is being well spent or managed?

We are in some of the worst financial times this country has seen in decades. Everyone is looking around for ways to save money, everyone that is except GRTC. If the spending allegations are true, the public should be outraged. But, even if they turn out to be untrue, shouldn’t we be equally outraged that almost a quarter million dollars was spent on furniture and artwork for the transit office? Is that the best use of your money?