After the audit, questions remain

The Broken Arrow Ledger published an article about the low turnout for the District’s forum to discuss the audit.  Dr. Mendenhall commented that this might indicate that the audit has become a “non-issue”.

The audit itself was very thorough and self-explanatory. But a lot of questions remain; questions that were not addressed in the audit or are possibly related to the unreleased items.  Many probably can’t be answered because of the continuing investigation, confidentiality issues, and the ongoing lawsuit.

former BA superintendent Jim Sisney (center), flanked by his (former) attorneys from Richardson Law Firm

For example:

1. Why did Sisney try to fire Gerber, Miller, and Linda Brown? He said it was because they were intentionally bypassing bidding laws in a criminal enterprise. The audit says no one was doing that, plus that was handled by Bilby. It doesn’t make sense that Sisney could have thought that. So what’s the real reason he tried to fire them?
2. Sisney said that the board members met “surreptitiously” with Rampey, two at a time, to avoid a quorum. The board members say it was Sisney’s idea, and Stover set up the meetings. What really happened?
3. Sisney says the Rampeys attended the executive sessions when his evaluation was discussed; they say they didn’t. Who’s lying?
4. What’s the real reason Sisney was so worked up about the $77,000, since it was expected, authorized, and budgeted for? And why wouldn’t he let the board members talk about the fund balance in meetings?
5. Why did the affidavit for a search warrant at AA’s storage unit list things that weren’t there? The signer said there were invoices in boxes labeled “BA Schools”. How would he know without having already searched BEFORE getting the warrant, and why did he get it wrong? There were no boxes labeled BA Schools and no invoices; nothing at all related to the accusations Sisney made.
6. How did the incoherent Combs audit even get past the first level of review in the state auditor’s office? Why did her supervisor Ricky Branch think it was a good idea to avoid interviewing people who were directly involved, and who were directly accused of crimes?

   

   Ricky Branch, Director, Local Government and Special Services Division, OSAI

There are a million unanswered questions. Most people probably don’t care; a few are still actively promoting the thoroughly debunked corruption story. A few of us really want to know what actually happened.