Earlier this week, an article was written in the Post Star newspaper, based in Glens Falls, NY. The premise was an audit conducted by the New York State Comptroller’s Office indicated the town of Greenwich, NY had not obtained three quotes for purchases made by the Highway Superintendent and other leadership positions. The report showed quoted Town Supervisor, Sara Idleman saying “We have someone who does our lawn service and someone who does our gardening, but we didn't know we had to put that out to bid". Is this case simply a lack of knowledge within the town government, or were the individuals at the top trying to get away with shortchanging the taxpayers?
It seems that town officials really didn’t know that obtaining three bids was part of the process. I find it hard to believe that these selected officials weren’t informed, but this is probably the way things have been done for some time given the small town setting. The individuals in the decision making positions didn’t prove they were competent in the business of running the town. Due to their lack of care, they will be watched more closely moving forward.
The state Comptroller’s Office did a nice job identifying this issue. Whether the findings will save the town money in the future or not, taxpayers in the community should feel a little more secure, knowing their money will be put toward the vendor with the best offer. If there was any sort of favoritism between town officials and the vendors of the services, the problem should be mitigated by the recommendations the auditors made.
