THE WATCHDOG!

Things were shaping up, we had sold our home with great speed, purchased a home in our new locale.

Elections were going to take place for the incoming new form of government. During these months the auditors were finishing up their yearly audit. (This yearly audit was very intense and took quite a number of months to complete). I was preparing to give over the responsibility
to the newly elected treasurer.

When I first was appointed City Treasurer, I had a visitor come into my office and said, "What gives you the skill to be able to handle the pension funds and investments?" This was from a firefighter that was watching over the fire pension funds so they were safe. I did not take offense to this question as it was a valid question and should be addressed. Every fund should have just this type of person questioning the ability and safety policies of each and every fund that affects THEIR money. I'm not sure how I answered this question that day, but I assured him that I would take care of all the funds that I was responsible for, as honestly and the best I could adhering to State statutes. There were State guidelines of what kind of investments that we could invest in. I planned to safeguard all the money entrusted in my care. I did not take this responsibility lightly.

After the election occurred and before I had left, this same firefighter (Watchdog) came into my office and asked me if I couldn't handle their pension funds, even though I was in another city and no longer City Treasurer. This of course, I couldn't do legally. The new City treasurer was to handle the Police and Fire Pension funds. I was glad that he was happy with how I had kept the Pension funds safely and secure under my watch. His confidence in my performance, I considered this quite a compliment coming from the very man that originally was questioning my ability to handle the funds.

Wisdom--Every governing body and funds should have "Watchdogs" watching over OUR MONEY that is being spent. If we had more of these type of fearless people, we would have less corruption, more accountability and our government would not be in the dire straights it is in today. We have gotten in a spending spree that has gone way beyond accountability. Most of the media is not addressing this. I applaud people like Glen Beck that calls for accountability of our elected officials. We need to demand that our voices and concerns be heard how they are spending OUR money.