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— Quincy Massachusetts News by Quincy Quarry News – News, Opinion and Commentary.
Checking out the data
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What with Tom “Steak Tips” Clasby recently failing to plead out at a federal court hearing requested by his attorney so that he could plead out, Quincy Quarry News’ Audit and other investigations desk poked around to see what could be found to fill a scheduled publication to report on his sentencing.
In turn, Quincy Quarry’s audit desk delivered.
Delivered big time.
For starters, the Quarry’s Audit desk found that the City of Quincy’s outside auditor cited the need for the City of Quincy to conduct proper fraud risk reviews as well as institute standard practice financial controls, especially as regards the handing of cash, each and every year from at least as far back 2012 through 2022 and so indicating that such recommended efforts were finally undertaken in 2023.
That or perhaps the auditor gave up on bothering to press its concerns about sloppy practices by the City of Quincy.
In any event, Steak Tips was not caught and then grilled until near the end of Fiscal Year 2024 and only then care of a rumored diming out of him as opposed to the City of Quincy imposing proper financial controls and so finally catch after years of him tapping the till.
Under lock and key …
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Further troubling, neither an FY 2024 management letter or later management letter has been posted by the City of Quincy nor FY 2024 or later audited City of Quincy financial statements, both of which surely addressed at least some of the years Steak Tips purloined city funds to then score large orders of bourbon steak tips, repeatedly help out a female “friend” in need, purchase custom embroidered fleeces for members of a men’s church group which Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch is at least a senior member, studio time for Steak Tips to record songs for his now-likely at least soon to be former wife, and other such misdeeds.
The self anointed ‘CEO of Quincy” has once again failed and is not acting in a fiduciary capacity as required by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
You would think the head of Quincy would have instituted tighter internal controls after the millions stolen in pension funds. Did Quincy ever get back any money. Who knows?
V
First up, one would think that tighter controls were instituted after the cyberheist, however, any efforts that may have been undertaken to effect better internal controls given the long ongoing recommendations of the city’s outside auditor failed to result in actions undertaken which then uncovered “Steak Tips” years of nibblings away from a variety of the cookie jars including those of other departments.
For example, the Purchasing Department.
Even worse, the ways that Tips took his bites were often at best amateurish.
At the same time, absent access to the MIA FY2024 external audit and related management letter, it is not possible to discern what may have been done and what might have remained unchanged.
As for cyberheisted $3.5 million from the City of Quincy employee pension, Mayor Koch did mention on a recent Koch and Carey sketch duo podcast that a reimbursement agreement had been reached, however, the mayor most curiously did not mention the amount of compensation received.
Given the mayor’s history of tapdancing — especially as regards bad news, it would be reasonable to suspect that the reimbursement agreement with the outside financial institutions involved in the wiring out of the stolen funds likely did not include any sort interest penalty paid to Quincy given almost five years to effect reimbursement as well that whatever was received was probably less than the full amount of what was cyberheisted as contributing fails occurred on the Quincy side of things.
In other words, local taxpayers are likely looking at having to make up the difference on the suspected partial reimbursement received from the outside financial institutions involved in the wiring out of the cyberheisted funds
The tap dance continues.
It is no secret that having an outside firm performing a fraud risk assessment and even going so far as to impose “standard” controls would certainly hamper the courses of action our esteemed City of Quincy Mayor has so far been implementing and taken action on.
It is much easier to get things accomplished when there are no controls in place to get in the way. The statues of the two saints our Mayor wants to adorn the new police building is a perfect example. Let’s keep things simple here and not get tangled up in the religious implications of this action although it is a very important element of this issue. Instead, let’s focus on the money. The cost of these two religious symbols (sorry, I meant to type statues here) is around $850,000 and the final cost has been estimated to end up at $1 million plus or minus a few dollars.
Now, our elected Quincy City Councilors took a few rounds to approve the final cost of this new police station building, didn’t they? Yes, they did. So, the $1 million for the statues had to have been included as a separate line item in the new police station budget our elected Quincy City Councilors overwhelmingly approved, didn’t it?
No, there was no separate line item for these statutes included in the new police station approved project budget. If it was not included in the project’s budget, then where did our esteemed Mayor get this $1 million from to spend on these religious symbols (sorry, I meant to type statues here again)? I have no idea where he got this money from.
Did the Mayor decide to be generous and donate $1 million of his own personal funds to the City of Quincy to purchase these statues? I do not think so.
Was the $1 million obtained through fraudulent means? It is difficult to tell as I have not seen anything describing where this money came from given that it was not included in the project’s budget. Doesn’t the City of Quincy have a standard system of controls in place to provide accountability over situations such as this? Such is an excellent question.
Goobs,
FYI: our peerless mayor is on the record as noting that as private developments in Quincy Center are supposed to spend short money on public art, he in turn basically then decided to go religious with buff bare-chested and arguably homoerotic art for the impending new public safety.
He also asserted that along the way that spending a million or so to pay for the statues was possible given that funds became available as changes along the way freed up the funds to pay for the statues.
Forgive me for wanting to wait to see if the contracted fixed price for the project ends up to be the no more than the actual final maximum price.
After all, he insisted upon the banal, butt-ugly, and wicked expensive arches-laden roof along with its also expensive use of copper and slate as well as adding faux granite columns with all of which only adding ugly both visually and financially.
There is, however, a bit of potential good news: given that this public building project was done per a set price Construction Manager at Risk contract, the contractor looks to be at financially risk should the statues found to be disallowed by the court.
Granted, more litigation would likely be needed to score a rebate of a sort; at the same time, promising to do so would surely make for a great campaign promise for a mayoral candidate hoping to take out the Koch Maladministration in 2027.
Quincy Quarry Readers, let us not forget our illusions the city council did Zero in addressing the issue of the audits, missing pension funds and funding of the statues. Yet I received a puff piece in the mail from councilor DiBona how he attends meetings and has close working relationships with city departments but NEVER mentions how he and the others voted for the fiscal mess the city is now in.
So what that the job of the council is to do what is best for the taxpayers not themselves. Take a look at campaign Finance reports — developers are very generous to incumbent rubber stamp city council members.
This year there is no contest for mayor BUT you can certainly vote out city council the incumbents. In particular, the Ward 1, 4, and 6 councillors 6 as well as the two at large councilors need to be replaced on November 4th. If they remain in office the next two years will of more of the same. Behind the scene deals, no transparency, no public input and 30 minute council meetings filled with photo ops without real substance and instead just fluff and-self promotion.
Howard,
In fairness, one has to give Boner props for his many tries and his hopes to move up hacktocracy.
Harold,
Not to worry he has reached his panicle. He will never win a one-on-one election as opponents will expose his propaganda, lack of accomplishments and full-time employment!
The mayor uses him to his advantage, when the time comes, he is no longer needed the mayor will toss his aside like roadkill. Mayor Koch may not be a lot of things BUT he knows how to maneuver the political system. Boner is far from political asset in the Koch camp.