I am writing about the front page article regarding the debacle known as the Leelanau County Finance Department. There is a quote from Sean Cowan as he resumes the job of Finance Director temporarily, “Every day is consumed by the crisis or event of the day, which is miserable to work in. The chaos is totally self-inflicted, as simple routines or processes are virtually non-existent.”
This should terrify the tax payers of the county, a finance department with “no simple routines or processes” to spend the money in an efficient and controlled way. His exact words were they “are virtually nonexistent”. As an Accounting Manager and Controller Consultant for more than 35 years, I can’t even conceive how things have gotten to this point.
It is my understanding that last year, under Cathy Hartesvelt, the department had a clean audit and everyone thought they were doing a great job. Since the new administrator was hired, less than a year ago, we have lost the Assistant Finance Director, the Finance Director and the Clerk that worked with them. There is currently no one with any real experience with our county finances in that office. This is the money hard working people of Leelanau County are entrusting to their local government to spend wisely – not in the midst of a “chaos with no simple routines or processes” in place.
