Politics

County Grand Jury Says Government Agencies Need Better Internal Fraud Controls

By Alison St John / Reporter

Published May 27, 2010 at 3:01 PM PDT

This story was published more than 14 years ago.

The San Diego County Grand Jury wants 70 government agencies around the county to do more to prevent fraud and abuse within their organizations

The Grand Jury surveyed how the County, the City of San Diego, and the city’s Unified School District identify and control internal fraud.

Their report concludes the Unified School District has the best system to identify things like embezzlement, conflict of interest and falsified records. The district saves $3 for every dollar invested in the program.

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Jury forewoman Victoria Stubblefield said the County’s internal system of controls for fraud is the weakest.

“If they were to publish a comprehensive code of ethics and initiate a county hotline, outsourced to a third party provider, I think we would see astonishing savings uncovering the fraud, waste and mismanagement in the County," she said.

The grand jury has recommendations for the County, all 18 cities, all 42 school districts, the port and the airport.

The recommendations are to adopt an integrated code of ethics, apply stronger internal controls, and set up an independent hotline, where people can leave tips about fraud and abuse anonymously.

The government agencies must respond within three months to a Superior Court Judge, either acting on the recommendations, or explaining why they are not.

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.