Bamboozled in Benton County

Follow the money. That's a good practice, but it is an even better policy and practice to keep a close eye on the money before it's gone. Events this week in Benton County make that point abundantly clear.

The Bentonville Police Department is investigating the apparent theft of as much as $30,000 from the Sugar Creek Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization by one of its board members. The federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has documented “unsafe and unsound banking practices” relating to the commercial real estate loan portfolio of ANB Financial, a bank that now has one of the largest ratio of past-due loans in Arkansas. ANB had almost $40 million in past due loans, an amount equal to more than one-fourth of the bank’s total capital.

Now come the Arkansas Division of Legislative Audit with a preliminary report uncovering four instances of formal indebtedness and unauthorized contracts exceeding $20,000 each between the City of Lowell and several companies doing business with the city -- Xerox, Benham Cos., CEI Engineering, and Ames Construction. Mayor Perry Long, as usual, blamed everything on former Mayor Phil Biggers and said it was hard to believe projects with such high-dollar amounts would be signed without approval by the city's governing body. Believe it, Perry. And get ready for the next audit that will cover the high-dollar no-bid stagecoach deal with Ray Dotson and all that expensive rented construction equipment that sat idle for weeks on your watch.

I'll be glad when the Division of Legislative Audit gets around to examining the books in Fayetteville and finally gives the citizens a straight answer about who was responsible for the cost over run and the three year delay on the new sewer plant -- and exactly what happened to that $63 million in squandered taxpayers' money.