7 ms·
So what is the recourse?
by mlac 5y ago
So what is the recourse?
- TameAntelope 5y agoI imagine you take it up with the PA governor, or more specifically PA's attorney general? Honestly, I'm not totally sure.
- kelp 5y agoI'm not a lawyer... but... You sue the town for violating state law. The town either settles, or you go to court, and if you win, the court compels them to comply with the law, and the town probably has to cover legal fees.
- f0e4c2f7 5y agoIf I remember right this happened to Michael Moore early in his life when he ran for local school board or something.
- alasdair_ 5y agoMoore’s story is kind of funny. He was still in high school and was sick of the principal. He had also just turned 18. So he went door to door to all the stoner kids, skateboarders and other young adults that also disliked the principal and got them sogned up to vote him in as a bloc. Then the older, more conservative types got wind of it and ended up fielding three candidates, all of whom split the vote allowing Moore to win. So in the end, he spent his last months of high school being the principal’s boss and being called “sir” instead of being yelled at for having his shirt untucked again.
- csee 5y agoSo no accountability for the corrupt officeholders? Just the taxpayers have to foot the legal bill?
- MatthewWilkes 5y agoI believe that one of the responsibilities of the board of auditors is hearing complaints against officeholders for waste of public funds.
- johnebgd 5y agoIsn’t government grand?
- xadhominemx 5y agoIf a DA or States Attorney thinks they broke the law, they could be prosecuted, just like anyone else
- infamouscow 5y agoYes. The taxpayers can elect new officeholders.
- slenk 5y agoThey tried.
- hiptobecubic 5y agoIn theory, if the town cares about money, this will lead to the people in charge losing the next election. In practice I'm sure this is mostly just people who do almost nothing for anyone collecting tax dollars for themselves with no consequences. That's what the auditors are supposed to be for, after all.
- sgjohnson 5y agoWhich is probably exactly why a Libertarian got elected. It’s rare for a libertarian to get elected, even more so in a write-in scenario.
- shadowgovt 5y agoIt was an off-season election (i.e. no Congress people or presidents up for election), which usually have an order of magnitude smaller turnout. That's the best opportunity for a dedicated candidate to rally enough support to get elected even if they aren't one of the two major parties, especially to a relatively small potatoes office like this.
- cormacrelf 5y agoI'm not convinced you could agree to settle such an application for money. Agreeing to discontinue an application for mandamus (the kind of court order you're referring to) that was to bless you with public power and impose upon you duties you were elected to carry out in exchange for money is roughly as corrupt as trying to prevent this guy from taking office in the first place, and may well be illegal. But "the town settles" in a broader sense of "agrees to stand down and swear you in", yes. Also nitpick, you would sue the individual members of the Board in their official capacity.
- kelp 5y agoYeah I didn’t mean settle for money. I mean the town agrees to follow the law.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- kadoban 5y agoShow up anyway, do the job you're supposed to be doing, request the documents and info you want/need. Should be a good time. I'd assume eventually it'll come down to lawyers when you get ignored too much or they try to throw you out. I'm not a lawyer, the above is just my first instinct.
- throwawaygh 5y agoAs the author mentions in his thread, he has no idea how to do the job. This is increasingly common: malcontents running for what should be boring local administrative positions and then going on a dick-swinging power trip that makes a mess of everything all while playing the victim. I'd assume it eventually comes down to a real estate broker who literally doesn't know how to run an audit but none-the-less ran for auditor, being sworn in by people who NEVER INTENDED TO NOT SWEAR HIM IN, sitting in front of an excel spreadsheet, and either finding nothing or making shit up. Since the town is already audited by an external CPA firm that is fairly large and doesn't have any incentive to run cover-up for a tiny township.
- kadoban 5y agoI mean it's possible the guy is a douche. I didn't get that vibe from the thread, but what do I know. It's almost guaranteed that the rest of the people he's talking about are terrible though, assuming he's not making the _entire_ thing up. So I think what I'm saying is that it's at worst a wash. As for how to learn to do the job, I'd be surprised if there's not a youtube series on it. There is for every other dumb thing I look up.
- throwawaygh 5y ago
- joyeuse6701 5y agoYou’ve replied more in this thread than anyone, calling this guy a grifter and a douche several times and attacking others in this thread, do you have some personal stake in this? It seems like you do and all your posts make me even more suspicious of this little town’s behavior. Maybe it’s just incompetence, but I’d run an audit like I would with anything that deviates from the norm, like your posts.
- mynameishere 5y agoYou take the case to some judges and they tell you you have "no standing".
- shadowgovt 5y agoNot when you're in the auditor and your job is to audit. The standing is clear there.
- throwawaygh 5y agoI'll bet $500 he's sworn in at or before the next regular meeting of the supervisors.
- thereare5lights 5y agoI'll take that bet
- throwawaygh 5y agoDone.
- throwaway98797 5y agoI’d love to be notified of how said bet is settled
- throwawaygh 5y agoSo would I. OP was sworn in on Monday.
- throwawaygh 5y agoOP was sworn in on Monday. Direct my $500 to a charity of your choice.
- gofkurself 5y ago[dead]