by Mike Ferguson

(St. Charles, MO) – We know the lawmakers you elect make the decisions on how much to tax us and where to spend the money. We know the Governor is in charge of setting state policies and administering the government but who watches them and their subordinates when that money is being spent?

The State Auditor.

In our continuing series of in-depth interviews with statewide office holders, Missouri State Auditor Tom Schweich (R) explains is approach to the office and comments on some of the recent work his office has done.

The Auditor’s role is to investigate government. That can be at the local, such as a municipal government, a local utility or school district, or at the statewide level where entire departments are reviewed.

That includes looking at individual office holders and the access to public money they have. Schweich says following up on suspected embezzlement is a high priority of his staff.

“…all of our auditors, we have over 100 people across the state, they look for public officials who are stealing and we have indicators of fraud. Since I’ve been Auditor, we’ve now found over twenty public officials stealing money.

“Nine have already been charged with a crime. The rest have all lost their jobs or are under investigation.”

Schweich, who is in his first term as Auditor, believes the impact of the investigations has a ripple effect into other areas of government.

“I think people can see now, and it will be more evident when I start advertising for reelection, when I point out all the embezzlers and where we found them. People are on notice now that if you steal money, you’re not going to get away with it.

“And that’s going to improve the quality of government across the state, even in entities we’re not auditing…”

When alleged criminal activity is found, the Auditor’s office then hands the case off to a prosecutor either at the local level or to the state Attorney General.

A recent series of audits looked at several local court systems. The findings in some cases is that local officials aren’t handling money or procedures well. The findings of those audits are listed on the Auditor’s website (linked below).

Several cases of theft were found.

“It’s amazing to me that people will steal from right under the nose of the judge and the prosecutor, because they handle a lot of cash in those courts. And where there’s cash, there’s an opportunity for theft.”

Schweich says, in some cases, there was no wrongdoing but the reports found ways for the offices to be more efficient and use better administrative practices.

It’s a busy office with some of the audits mandated by state law. In other cases, citizens request audits by directly contacting the Auditor’s office or through a petition process.

To Schweich, the petitions demand quick action.

“If citizens take the time to go through the effort to ask me to do an audit, we put those, actually, at the top of the queue. We have a long list of audits that we’re going to do. You take the time to petition me, it’s going right up to the top and we do it immediately.”

The Auditor’s website is typically updated a few times a week with results of new audits.

On the web:

Missouri State Auditor’s Office: http://www.auditor.mo.gov/

Show Me Institute (sponsor of this week’s commentary): www.ShowMeInstitute.org

by Mike Ferguson

(St. Charles, MO) – Can the motivation to make a profit coincide with efforts to preserve natural resources and take better care of the environment?

Increasingly, the answer to that question is “yes”.

While many businesses have some kind of green initiative, large corporations are starting to look at conservation as a business strategy. AT&T Missouri Vice President Debra Hollingworth is among the corporate executives who like the fact that green is included in the business plan along with red and black.

The company’s fleet of service vehicles that is based in the St. Louis area is one example of a large-scale environmental effort.

“Not only does it benefit the environment, it benefits our bottom line. For example, just with our compressed natural gas vehicles, last year alone we saved over $3.6 million in gas.”

The company has around 5,700 vehicles in use right now that are powered by compressed natural gas. Their goal is to have 15,000 compressed natural gas vehicles in use by 2018. The effort began in 2009.

Hollingsworth says other kinds of green technology, including electric and hybrid vehicles, are also being used by AT&T, bringing the total number of their green technology-powered vehicles on the road now to around 7,900.

The benefits of using compressed natural gas, according to Hollingsworth, are that it means low emissions from the vehicles, it’s efficient and an abundance of natural gas in the US mean a likely cheap source of fuel for many years. One of the challenges of that kind of power is a low number of fueling stations currently.

AT&T, along with other technology companies, also provide ratings that show how eco-friendly wireless and other electronic devices are. Those ratings are based on the energy efficiency or the item and on the ability to recycle it later.

The effort to increase conservation in business doesn’t just rely on the businesses, though. Customers can be a part of that. Hollingsworth suggests taking advantage of digital options when doing business.

“If you can get your bill without it coming in the mail and on paper, please do so. It saves so much [in terms of] work on the environment, not to mention all the trees, and it’s quicker and more efficient all the way around.”

Other ways customers can take the lead in making business more green is to take advantage of recycling programs offered in stores of many different companies, checking the energy and environmental ratings of products before you buy and using mobile apps to manage accounts.

On the web:

AT&T: www.ATT.com

Commentaries in this week’s “Missouri Viewpoints are provided and sponsored by:

Progress Missouri: www.ProgressMissouri.org

Associated Industries of Missouri: www.AIMO.com

by Mike Ferguson

(St. Charles, MO) – Winters in Missouri can take us on a weather roller coaster ride. A week that begins with sunny skies and fifty degrees can bring rain and chilly temperatures by Tuesday and school-cancelling snowfall on Wednesday.

That’s why being prepared before the weathercaster issues a warning is the best approach.

There are two key areas to prepare for the winter weather: our homes and our vehicles.

In this week’s “Missouri Viewpoints”, we get expert advice on both.

“December, January, February and March are [when we have] the highest incidents of fires because we have holiday lights, we have increased cooking, we have auxiliary heaters people have in their homes, more sources of open flames, so that’s when have the most fires; in the winter.”

That’s the advice from Dan Bruno, the Fire Marshall of the West County Fire District in the St. Louis area.

Even though it takes a little time and may cost a small amount of money, Bruno recommends having fireplaces inspected before you light the first fire of the season. After that, be sure to keep everything at least four feet away from the fireplace when there’s a flame or when there could be embers still active. Embers could be active hours after a fire goes out.

That’s not the only inspection to do. When pulling those lights and extension cords out of the attic or garage, look them over closely before sending electricity through them. With extension cords, Bruno recommends replacing them at the first sign of wear, including loose prongs or damage to the outer coating.

He’s got a more direct suggestion when it comes to the decorative lights.

“These holiday light cords are so inexpensive and they’re so prone to damage by the weather, especially when you hang them outside. The sheeting will get damaged or it will get thinned down due to exposure to ultraviolet light, at the end of the season, I recommend people throw them away.”

You should do the same check on space heater cords before using those. The biggest danger of space heaters, according to Bruno, is what’s around them. Make sure to keep paper products, curtains, furniture, fabrics and anything else that could dry out and ignite away from the heaters.

Getting rid of old lights, suspect extension cords and limiting the use of candles are good ideas, but Bruno says the first part of staying safe is knowing the escape route if there is a fire. That starts with testing the smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, then making sure everyone in the home knows where to go in an emergency.

Winter weather emergencies come fastest on the roadways, though.

While regular maintenance of your vehicle is a good idea year around, there are specific precautions to take and preparations to make before winter sets in.

Phil Linck from AAA Missouri says winter safety begins with a winter checkup. If you aren’t comfortable checking the belts, hoses, tires and battery yourself, he recommends taking the car into your mechanic’s shop. Most shops offer some kind of winter inspection package to look for potential problems.

One key part of preparing your car for winter that is often overlooked is the windshield washer fluid. During the summer months, Linck points out, many drivers put water in the windshield washer system. When the temperature drops in the winter, any leftover water will likely freeze the lines and maybe even the pump that sprays fluid onto the windshield. If that happens, anything smeared on your windshield, like slush, mud or cinders, won’t easily come off and will obstruct your view of the road.

When sleet and ice hit, though, don’t rely on the windshield fluid.

“A lot of people, unfortunately, try to clear the ice and slush with their wiper blades instead of using an ice scraper. Over a couple of weeks of wintertime, you’re going to wind up tearing a wiper blade. So, get out a little bit earlier and let’s clear the windshield off.”

Another good step to take to be prepared for a bad situation, like sliding off the road or getting stuck and stranded, is to keep an emergency kit in the vehicle. Linck suggests packing it with, among other items, a flashlight, a blanket or two, a cell phone charger, jumper cables, a small shovel, non-perishable food (like granola bars or protein bars) and bottled water.

The roadways may be more dangerous because of the still-lagging economy. That’s because many cities have cut back on the use of ice melt and cinders when bad weather hits. The impact of that is roads that could be more dangerous than before, especially when freezing rain, sleet and snow are heavy.

On the web:

Missouri Association of Fire Chiefs: www.MOChiefs.org

AAA: www.AAA.com