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Once upon a time, the Legislative Auditor’s Office used to release many reports under the leadership of former Legislative Auditor/Legislative Manager Aaron Allred.
The office enjoyed decades of independence during Allred’s tenure under both Democratic and Republican majority leadership. But in 2024, the Republican supermajority leadership largely clipped the wings of the legislative auditor’s independent authority.
Sometimes it is easy to forget that the Performance Evaluation and Research Division and the Post Audit Division still exist, because their work product has slowed. But the fine folks that work in those divisions still do great work when they are turned loose.
For example, as I wrote about over the weekend, the Post Audit Division released one heck of a report about financial improprieties and mismanagement at the former Department of Arts, Culture and History, run by former Commissioner/Curator/cabinet Secretary Randall Reid-Smith.
I was told months ago to be prepared for when this report would be released. Sources were telling me about all the issues being found after Arts, Culture and History was absorbed into the Department of Tourism. Unlike Reid-Smith, former Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby ran a tight ship, and what her team were finding drove them to seek the help of the Post Audit Division.
In quick summary, Arts, Culture and History allowed accounts to become over-encumbered, resulting in deficits that required bailouts by the Legislature; there was no consistency with how expenses and appropriations were accounted for, with the Department of Tourism being blindsided by requests for payment from vendors they had no clue were owed money; 10 years of not remitting sales tax collections to the State Tax Department; and lack of inventory controls, including for historic items.
I guess in hindsight none of this should be that surprising. Just within the last couple of years, the state had to settle a lawsuit over Reid-Smith’s efforts to bypass the Capitol Building Commission in order to put up the murals he wanted in the Capitol’s upper rotunda without public notice or input. He forced through the purchase of a Steinway grand piano over the objections of the State Purchasing Division, allegedly doctoring an invoice and using West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s private foundation to make the purchase, which was reimbursed by the department.
And those issues were just since 2024. Reid-Smith was in charge of Arts, Culture and History and its predecessor agency since 2006, when he was brought in by former Gov. Joe Manchin. He came under heavy criticism more than 18 years ago over the botched effort to build a café at the Culture Center and the firing of the former state archivist allegedly because he opposed the café concept. At one point, the state had to bear the cost of removal of ugly concrete security bollards because Reid-Smith, as chairman of the Capitol Building Commission, didn't bother to get approval. Kudos to Phil Kabler and Eric Eyre, then of the Charleston Gazette-Mail, who chronicled those incidents.
Sources have told me that one of the reasons the America 250 outdoor exhibit beside the Culture Center still isn't complete was due to cost overruns toward the end of Reid-Smith's tenure. They were able to add the train engine and coal car shuttle, but exhibit cases remain empty or still in the plastic wrap they arrived in.
Back to the audit, it sounds like the Department of Tourism is doing the best it can to put controls in place to ensure the issues found never happen again. But in the case of the inventory issues, Tourism officials admit it is going to take time to re-catalogue tens of thousands of items.
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Another report released by the Post Audit Division last week focused on state government website transparency.
Senate Bill 175, passed in 2020 by the Legislature, requires each state department to include searchable contact details for offices and high-level officials, as well as organizational charts, governing laws, meeting records and annual reports on its website. The law also requires departments and agencies to include information about available grants and awards that exceed $20,000.
Legislative auditors were charged with reviewing the websites of 125 state agencies and occupational licensure boards, as well as analyzing the websites of 55 county commissions (the bill also included required certain website requirements for county governments).
In short, while most entities successfully provide basic contact information, the audit revealed many state departments and agencies were not publishing organizational charts, meeting minutes and agency rules. Auditors also highlighted a critical lack of official .gov domains among state agencies, with some still using .com or .org.
Nearly 70% of state websites lack an organizational chart. Approximately 35% of websites do not provide links to the statutes and rules governing the agency. Compliance with requirements for meeting minutes vary significantly by department. Only the Department of Tourism was found to be in full compliance.
As someone who often goes to government websites, I sometimes get annoyed when there are not clear phone numbers and emails for public officials I need to reach. I especially hate contact forms, because nine times out of 10 no one responds when I submit requests for information that way. Another annoyance is when there is no contact information for where to submit Freedom of Information Act requests.
Government transparency is of paramount importance. But despite being told all the time that the administration of Gov. Patrick Morrisey is the most transparent ever, I constantly hear complaints about departments dragging their feet fulfilling FOIAs or avoiding communicating over official government emails or hiding behind classifications, such as "attorney-client privilege" or "internal memoranda." The previous administration of Gov. Jim Justice had their own issues with transparency.
At minimum, though, can we agree to provide the required information on state government websites, please?