CULTURE CHANGE

A second report from the state controller highlights further financial mismanagement by the state’s cultural agencies. Although the amounts of money are small, the larger problem is the permissive, and sometimes deceptive, attitude set by the agencies’ management. Better accounting practices and more oversight won’t solve this underlying problem. Instead, the agencies’ leadership, which includes their boards of directors, must show that such behavior is no longer tolerated. Either that or face a bureaucratic reorganization from the Legislature.

Like a similar report last month, the Office of the State Controller again found that the Maine State Library, Maine Arts Commission, Maine State Museum Commission and the Maine Historic Preservation Commission lack internal financial controls, a problem largely resolved by the state Department of Administrative and Financial Services taking over the agencies’ accounting. More troubling, this week’s report detailed instances of fraudulent purchases by Arts Commission employees and numerous problems with expense reports filed by commission staff. In a state where art is often viewed as a luxury, such activity gives lawmakers a convenient excuse to cut funding for these agencies, which would shortchange artists and the public.

The fraudulent purchases involved the commission’s former deputy director, who used a state FedEx account for his personal use. The expenses exceeded $1,000, according to the report. The former employee repaid about $250.

Another employee submitted more than $11,000 worth of travel expenses without stating a purpose of travel or merely saying “meetings around the state.” “Without a full and adequate explanation of the business purpose of the travel, misuse of state resources for personal travel would be easy to perpetrate,” the controller noted.

The report also cited instances of “inaccurate” understanding of the state’s mileage reimbursement standards. An employee who lived in Portland, and regularly commuted to the commission’s office in Augusta, attended a full-day meeting in Portland. The employee billed the state for a Portland-to-Augusta round trip although the person never left Portland. One employee received $1,600 in what the controller called “undeserved” reimbursements over two years.

In another instance documented by the controller, an employee received duplicate payments for travel expenses and kept both.

In most cases, the employees repaid the state when the problems were brought to their attention. The report does not say whether this was a result of the controller’s investigation.

While the arts commission is right that these problems occurred in the past, that the amounts are small and that steps have been taken to fix them, the commission has yet to explain how the culture of the agency has been changed to ensure employees fully adhere to state standards and practices. Without this, lawmakers may look more favorably on legislation that would bring more oversight but also paralyzing bureaucracy.

The commission must restore trust among lawmakers and the public to avoid such an outcome.