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Show E(iDmm(Bmtt Kan,M. """ Inadequate control resulted in Timp extravagances $ Area residents are feeling a sense of outrage as details about corrupt business practices and the misuse of funds at the Timpanogos Community Mental Health Center are made public. Questionable practices at the center include top of-ficials contracting with themselves to do the work they were hired to do and get paid for the same job two or even three times. They include exorbitant credit card allowances for private purchases. Managers were permitted to charge their travel expenses, then pass their bills along to the center. When the credit card bill came in, the center paid for that, too. In other words, the managers making the trip not only had their expenses covered, but were paid the amount of the trip expense in addition - and the center paid the travel expense twice. One manager bought apartments and then rented them to the center at above-mark- et prices. And instead of assuming the usual responsibilities of upkeep ex-pected by landlords, the center paid for upgrading the property as well. And the list of abuse goes on and on, adding up to more than $3.5 million in extra costs at Timp Mental Health since January 1984 -- - that's state money, earmarked for treatment of the mentally ill, but instead ending up in the pockets of the individuals trusted with the care of the mentally ill. How could it have happened? How did they get away with it for so long? Who should have caught them? How can we make sure it doesn't happen again? Is there anyone who has read this story who doesn't wonder about each of these questions? The report by the Legislative Auditor General, who wrote the report that blew the lid off Timp Mental Health, makes it clear that the practices which ultimately cost $3.5 million started innocently enough. It's common for such facilities to use contracts to fulfill necessary functions, rather than using hourly employees. At some point the contracts were offered to hourly employees as a means to give the employees raises without changing their hourly work agreements. Without proper policies established governing how such contracts were to be administered, the practice became commonplace at Timp Mental Health, with top administrators contracting with themselves to do work that could easily have been considered to already be part of their responsibilities. Each year the amount of money passed along to these managers through contracts grew. In 1987, the management at Timp Mental Health was paid three times the amount earned by their counterparts at similar mental health centers. And there is little doubt the individuals receiving the inflated paychecks feel they were worth the money they paid themselves. That's the only way such respected individuals could justify such questionable practices. The report says the use of contracts, made in secret, hid the hefty incomes of Timp Mental Health's top managers from the independent auditor who didn't probe deeply enough, and who accepted questionable documentation with no hesitation. The report also lays the blame at the feet of two other public bodies - the Timp Mental Health Board, made up of one member of the commissions of Utah, Web Summit counties, and the State Division of A?atl(i Health. Cental J'i These public "watchdogs," through inaction the managers of Timp Mental Health to takefZ? very poor indeed, the mentally ill, so they could themselves lavishly. Pay The entire episode reflectes poorly on the w mitment of these professionals to care for the need J their patients. It also demonstrates the necessity i'l,rl established procedures where public monies are rif"; volved, even when such procedures seem to be mor an annoyance than a safeguard. eI P'' The Timp Mental Health Center can survive, becau underneath this top heavy layer of high 'paid 2 ministrators there is a core of dedicated workers 3 wh want to serve the needs of the mentally ill. 0 4 i fi ft But proper policies must be established and followed ' regarding all the areas uncovered by the legislative audit. And the people we elect, in good faith, to look after the public's welfare must take that responsibility seriously enough to look closely into such operations. Annual audits that would strike fear into the hearts o( any administrator must be a matter of course. 0 The abuses of public trust uncovered at the Timp ' Mental Health Center are an example of what can f happen when public funds and government contracts 0 are not painstakingly protected. Otherwise, the opportunities for abuse are too many !l and the safeguards for the public are too few. ' $ This doesn't haDDen on regular basis A. A. the editor's column By MARC HADDOCK jjj Columnist Russell Baker, in his excellent autobiography "Growing Up," discusses the day he found he had a talent for newspaper writing. Fresh out of college, Baker was in the newsroom on rewrite assign-ment. In a daily newspaper, the rewrite man is the poor slob who has the responsibility of taking the details from a reporter on the street and turning it into a news story. The story will carry the reporter's byline, not the writer's, because in this business, it's how you get the news, not how you write it, that counts. Baker tells how he found he had two things going for him as a rewrite man - he could type very fast, and he was very good at stringing cliches together. After all, he says, that's the art of newspaper writing - string cliches together in a way people expect to read them. Baker claims that his success was built on this uncanny ability. As you might guess, not all of us are equally adept at using cliches. Believe it or not, I sometimes have a dickens of a time finding ttie right cliche for a given story. But that's the way the cookie crumbles, as they say. So last week, as I was writing All that work when right down the toilet.) Anyway, I was working my way through the first paragraph, thinking about those poor scouts working their way through park paths littered with debris from the trees and bushes that line the paths - and I wrote this: ". . . the park has fallen into a state of disrepair that was disconcerting to many who use the park on a regular branches." Now of course, what I mean to say was, "on a regular basis," one of those cliches that makes working for a newspaper a piece of cake. But my brain thought one word, and then got intertwined with another thought about the litter, and in place of basis, I typed branches. At first I figured this is the kind of thing that makes newspaper writers cringe. If you can't get your cliches accurate, who will trust you to get anything right? I figured I could simply apologize in this week's newspaper, admit that as the editor I don't have an editor, and so mistakes slip more naturally into my copy than into others. Or even admit that it was past deadline, and I didn't take enough time to proofread the editorial. Or I could fall back on that old adage: "In this newspaper, we try to provide something for everyone. Since some people are always looking for mistakes, we try to in-clude a few of those, too" . . . and we do it in a regular branches, if you will. Then 1 decided to be an innovator. After all, what's a cliche but a shopworn expression that a lot of people picked up on because it sounded so good the first time? Okay, so "on a regular branches" maybe doesn't sound so good even the first time, but I figure if it us used a lot, it might catch on. Someone droning on in the Utah State Legislature might pick up on it, and say it a few times. There it could pass into the mouths of us common folk. And then, at least retrospectively, my editorial won't contain an inaccuracy, but an innovation. gOf course, I have to remain impartial, so I can't overuse this new term. But anyone who would like to help is invited to join in. Look at it as an opportunity to help a living language grow - or at least mutate. If you do, I promise not to make any mistakes ever again. Or at least not to do it on a regular branches. another fine example of journalistic excellence for one of our editorial pages on the benefits of scouts cleaning up the Adventure and Learning Park, I really blew it. It was a natural mistake. Anyone could have done it. (How many of you noticed it? How many of you even read the editorial, after I worked my fingers to the bones typing it? Just as I thought. People, Politics & Policy a d County Commission responsible f for Timp Mental Health graft ; 3. News, used to pick on the cot- - mission from time to time just keep them on the up and up. Tte . would get madder than hor - because they could not manipulate '' her. The average person just never really gets to hear the full stav I Having sat on the Timp Meoli Health's Board of Directors bete I have some sense of how far out t i balance things have become and is shocking. It is sad to see these people violate the public trust, but put i ' perspective, these things have bee with us since the founding oi k . country. The only guarantee it have to prevent it is to stay involved and speak out. Last Monday nigh1, was one of those occasions to do jus that at the mass meetings. You an right. At times it is a pure pain, aoi a pain that we would like to if without. Remember all that e necessary for evil to triumph is In good people to do nothing. These good people are people like yu People who just want to raise family and live in peace. What the ladies like Li4 Chipman have done to save Genen is a monument to the average American! Linda and the ote have paid a dear price for U victory. They have been harassed. By E. MARK BEZZANT The recent revelations of graft at the Timp Mental Health is of such profound proportions the public ought not to rest until the full story is brought to light, and appropriate action is taken to correct the problem. Unfortunately, the mentality that promotes that kind of behavior has not been completely rooted out. The county commissioner assigned to oversee the Timp Mental Health has some hard questions to answer. Prior to Malcolm Beck and Brent Morris taking office, the commission had almost lost all perspective. Republicans sent a clear message that this would not be tolerated and ousted one commissioner in their convention. One commissioner still remains and, unfortunately, is unopposed on the Republican ticket, from the southern part of the county. Sadly enough the democratic candidate has little hope of beating the in-cumbent, because of the large number of Republicans in the county. This is a time the Republicans need to do some soul searching. This is a time Ken Creer and Jim Mangum need to do what Ronald Reagan did-cha- nge parties and put an end to this kind of government. intimidated and threatened, hi they have pressed on, against tht odds. They won. It is high time that a cle message, a chilling messaged sent to those remaining in offc that double talk will not j tolerated. Feeding at the p trough will not be tolerated. too many hard working pf-i-government to allow a fe spoil the efforts of the rest. l& hope that others will come for and help clean up the reman problems. Plainly stated, County 0 missioner Gary Anderson should!1 into private law practice. Ted Jones deserves some He has more green per inch fflfr of his barber shop than an) Maybe the pool hall will mowfJ place this year. We get far better government out of our parttime city mayors and councilmen that these people who are looking for a cusshy job in the name of serving the people. This matter, will all of the implications reaching farther than the Timp Mental Health, should not be brushed under the rug. These people have a sacred trust and the public should hold their feet to the fire. After the last revelations dealing with county government I asked for the minutes of the county meetings to be sent to me so that I could watch for things worth printing. The minutes of those meetings were so skimpy that little could be discerned from them. Kris Radish, from the Deseret Pleasant Grove moved to St. George p.g. blab By MARCELLA WALKER The spring break for Alpine School District provided an ideal time to get away for a few days and more than a few people from Pleasant Grove took advantage of it. We went to St. George and everywhere we turned we ran into someone from town here. The Clark Evans family was at the Brigham Young Home when we arrived. We complained along with them about the rainy weather which had necessitated us being at this tourist stop rather than at the pool. In their case, they had planned to golf and were taking the tour in-stead. We went to the old St. George Tabernacle and ran into the Evans' again. At the St. George Temple visitors center, we watched a movie about LDS temples and were surprised to see our daughter and son-in-la-appear bigger than life upon the screen. Then we remembered them signing a waiver giving permission for them to be filmed outside the Salt Lake Temple on their wedding day. At the Jacob Hamblin Home in Santa Clara we walked in on a tour in progress and were happy to see Joyce Simmons, her daughter and grandchildren. That evening we stopped at Pizza Hut to get some pizza to take back to our motel and who was there but Bruce Bushnell, Pleasant Grove High School's basketball coach, and his family. There was also a bunch of boys from his ward there. The horse with the fastest time of the day was owned by Gordon Case. We wondered if it was the Gordon Case from Lindon. We hoped so. Between showers we went to Zions Canyon and it was more beautiful than we had ever seen it. There were waterfalls all over the place and that is not something we had seen before. The continual rain was definitely good for something, after all. We saw a mountain climber scaling the cliffs near the narrows. It was scary but he looked like he knew what he was doing. Although, I have always been told you should not do it alone. Everyone was wondering how he had gotten across the raging Virgin River to reach the cliffs. An enjoyable ride was made through the newly developing areas of St. George, Bloomington, Bloomington Hills and Green Valley. We thought it might be fun to spend the winters down there when we retire and so we took a look at what there is to offer. It will be quite some time yet before we retire but it is nice to look, anyway. There must be a lot of people with a lot of money down there because we saw some fabulous big homes. St. George is supposed to be the eighth fastest growing place in the United States, I read, and I can see why. So, we were in St. George and it I rained. If we would have stayed home we would just have watched it rain, too. At least, by being somewhere else, we saw it rain in a new place. And, fortunately, we were not caught in the terrible snowstorm near Cedar City on Wednesday night. Those who came through it said it was terrifying and they could not see where they were going nor where the road was. When we went through there it was raining so hard that the wind-shield wipers were useless and you could hardly see the road and had to follow the taillights ahead of you. But even that was much better than going through the terrible blizzard. On Sunday, when we were ready to come home, it cleared off quite a bit and I at least got to get my new swimsuit wet in the pool. The girls had all these plans to lay out by the pool in St. George and get a good suntan but that goal never materialized. They got to be out for a few minutes between showers on Saturday and Sunday they were looking hard to see if they had got any kind of a line at all. We had one more success while we were there. We found a prom dress for our daughter. We had looked without success up here before we went down. With a little bit of luck she should be the only one at the prom with a dress like that, although, with all the Pleasant Grovians in St. George you cannot count on it. By the way, it was good to see .. everyone down there. Let's do it again sometime, and maybe it won't rain. The next evening we ate dinner at Los Hermanos, a neat Mexican restaurant there, and in came another couple from Pleasant Grove but I can't remember their names. In the room next to ours at the motel was the Kohler family, believe it or not. On Saturday we did a session at the St. George Temple, our first at that temple. In the afternoon we went to the Dixie Downs to the horseraces. We had never been to the horseraces before and it was very enjoyable. The track was very muddy and all the horses and jockeys were a mess before it was over. Firemen to raffle microwave oven Everyone in the community is encouraged to begin working on a hearty appetite to better enjoy the annual Pleasant Grove Firemen's Breakfast which will be held Saturday, May 7, from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Fire Station, Center and Main Streets. The popular breakfast features ham, eggs, pancakes, hashbrowns, and beverage. The tickets may be purchased from any member of the Fire " Department or Fire Ladies Auxiliary or at the door. The cost is $2 for those aged 13 and over v $1.50 for children aged 3 w Children under age 3 receive cakes free of charge. In addition, a microwave oven be given away to some lucky F that morning. j Tickets for the drawing w oven are available from the lire and the fireladies or at Norton Wednesdays and Saturdays May 7. $ The tickets for the giveaway each or six for $5. Proceeds will be used to pur equipment for the new fire tru Police investigations Several teenagers were arrested and referred to Juvenile Court this past week, according to Pleasant Grove Police officials. A male was arrested lor the theft of $84 from the wallet of an employee at The money was later recovered. Det. Cody Cullimore m;ide the arrest. Two girls were arrested for theft pleas' from some lockers ai t Grove Junior High School-wer-a Sony cassette player ' at $50, cassette tapes valued Levi mini-ski- rt valued at purse valued at $8, a wallet a cash. tf( All but the purse and casn recovered. They were arres Sgt. Steve Frampton. Water Continued from front page south of Alpine. Water-leve- l declines in this area and throughout the state are probably the result of below normal preciptation and increased ground-wate- r withdrawl for irrigation, municipal and in dustrial uses. The largest water-leve- l rise was 15 ft. in a well in the shallow ar-tesian aquifer in the Sevier Desert north of Delta. The rise in this well is probably related to a decrease in pumping due to the availability of greater than normal supplies of surface water for irrigation. Copies of the maps can be ob-tained at the offices of the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, Room 1016 Administration Building, 1745 W. 1700 South, Salt Lake City 84106. The maps will be included in a report, "Developing a State Water Plan, Ground-wate- r Conditions in Utah, Spring of 1988," which will be released later this year. |