Just down the street (that would be Atlantic Avenue) from scandal-ridden Bell, California, is the city of Cudahy (pronounced “cudda’-hee” or “cudda’-hay”).  In fact Bell is Cudahy’s next-door neighbor to the north.  It appears that Cudahy and Bell share more than just a border.

In an online story dated April 15, 2014, and headlined State accuses small city Cudahy of large spending irregularities,  Los Angeles Times reporters Jeff Gottlieb and Stevel Marble reveal that California State Controller John Chiang today released the state’s City of Cudahy – Review Report – Administrative and Internal Accounting Controls for the period July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2012.  (Note:  Times reporter Gottlieb updated this story and added details in a later one headlined Audit faults Cudahy as government in chaos.)

The essence of the state’s Review Report can be summed up in the first sentence of the Conclusions section:  “We found the City of Cudahy’s administrative and internal accounting control deficiencies to be serious and pervasive.  As a result, the potential for fraud, waste, and abuse is very high.”

Additionally, the State Controller’s Office (SCO) issued several findings, to include:

Finding 1:  Questionable leave and other pay for some City officials

Finding 2:  City officials failed to comply with and violated City’s municipal code over contracts

Finding 3:  Questionable payments for lobbying services

Finding 4:  The City failed to exercise adequate controls over expenses charged to City-issued credit cards

Finding 5:  Mismanagement of state grant funds

Finding 6:  The City’s fixed assets were not properly and accurately accounted for

Finding 7:  The City’s Accounting Policy and Procedures Manual has not been updated

Finding 8:  Bank reconciliations not performed, reviewed, and approved

Finding 9:  Insufficient records of City Council meeting minutes and resolutions

Finding 10:  Delayed submission and adoptions of annual budgets and amendments

A reasonable person might ask, “Shouldn’t Cudahy’s City Manager, City Attorney, and the City’s auditors have been aware of the underlying facts for these findings before they were uncovered and reported by the California SCO?  Shouldn’t they have taken prophylactic steps to correct the deficiencies.”

You would think so, wouldn’t you?  And in fact, they did.  Cudahy’s new mayor and city council requested that the SCO come in to help them identify problem areas and begin to correct the misdeeds of their predecessors.

OpenCdA hopes that some officials in northern Idaho cities learn from the criminal corruption prosecutions in Cudahy and Bell — but we doubt they will.