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Show I'nt 1'ross - Wednesday April 27. vm Page 2 Inadequate control resulted in Timp extravagances Area residents are feeling a sense of outrage as details about corrupt business practices and the misuse 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 hou 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 ;jrwh part of their responsibilities Each year the amount of money passed along 10 these h managers through contracts grew In management at Timp Mental Health was paid ',r.times the amount earned by their roufii-rj,asimilar mental health centers And there is little doubt the individuals tj. inflated paychecks feel they were worth the mone unpaid themselves. That's the only way such resper ?. individuals could justify such questionable prurt ice The report says the use of contracts, made m se hid the hefty incomes of Timp Mental Health- - .t managers from the independent auditor who didn probe deeply enough, and who accepted quest 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 funds at the Timpanogos Community Mental Health Center are made public. Questionable practices at the center include top officials 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-markprices. And instead of assuming the, usual responsibilities of upkeep expected 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 et - r' lost the other glove or skate. Kids will all of a sudden realize that it takes work to keep a house all spiffy. It isn't just something mom and dad do before they go to bed each night Then, they'll threaten anyone, but anyone, who steps on the clean discovered an amazing thing this past weekend. It seems that the spring weekend was hard on parents. The kids were home for spring vacation, and the rainy weather kept them indoors much of the time. Some parents had early camping trips planned and couldn't go because of the cold. Other parents were planning to go shopping or visit friends while the older kids were home to tend. Trouble is - the older kids wanted to go to the mall too. So mom and dad had to stay at home - cooped up in the house with the little ones -while their teenagers did their thing. "All the while, the parents were wishing the kids were in school. Rainy days and holidays for children just don't mix. Rainy, windy, cold days are tough on moms, dads and houses, especially if the kids aren't in school. But there is a solution to the Get your spring problem. housecleaning done. I knew a mother who deliberately planned her annual housecleaning binge for spring vacation. That way the kids could help wash down the walls, clean the cupboards and go through the attic and basement to get rid of all unnecessary items. There are lots of bored little bodies to help with the meaner chores. It's also a good time to get some yard work done. Sic the boys on the ditches around the house; make them mow the peculiarly tufted lawns; and ask them to sprinkle off the bedsprings with the garden hose. Most of the parents are mumbling to themselves by Sunday night. . carpet with anything but pristine By BETTY FOWLER They're saying: "Why don't they make the school teachers earn their pay? How come teachers gel spring vacation? How'd those teachers like to be cooped up with these kids all weekend? Who invented spring vacation anyway?" But. if those parents would take a leaf out of Jewel's book, they'd put those kids to work. They'd never complain about spring vacation again. One good thing about teaching kids to spring clean is they'll never get the house dirty again. They'll recognize that most of the fingerprints on the walls are their own, and they'll see that at least half of the junk in Ihe basement is broken bikes, one roller skate or one boxing glove, and they'll remember that they're the ones who either traded or , ionahi-documentatio- Wet spring break is no vacation you better believe it I - feet or immaculate shoes. Kids who clean are mean! Teachers long ago recognized what a cold, rainy day could do to free spirits who' re cooped up all day that's why they invented vacations, period. Teachers are supposed to be smart aren't they'1 Anyway. I can remember the first time I developed ;i very healthy respect for teachers was when I'd tried to control my live little kids during a rainstorm. The house was a disaster. I. it tie Johnny decided that was the day he'd learn to cook. The recipe called for six cups of water. Thai s why mom found six cups lined up on the cupboard shell Little Suzy discovered that baking soda will bank a lire on the top of Ihe stove, and Sally found it was better to measure shortening rather than guess at how much. That was alter she'd cut her linger trying to make trench tries and melted three pounds of (Yisco trying to fry them. That was also the day Jim went fishing and tried to fry his catch without first taking the insides out of them. Of course, when he discovered his mistake, and then cleaned them, the floor, sink, and stove sprouted fins and scales. Donna cooked macaroni, not realizing that a little pasta went a long ways. She had three pans full of the stuff before she was through. . of one member of the commissions of Utah, Weber and Summit counties, and the State Division of Mental Health. These public "watchdogs," through inaction, allowed the managers of Timp Mental Health to take from the very poor indeed, the mentally ill, so they could pay themselves lavishly. The entire episode reflectes poorly on the commitment of these professionals to care for the needs of their patients. It also demonstrates the necessity of established procedures where public monies are involved, even when such procedures seem to be more of an annoyance than a safeguard. The Timp Mental Health Center can survive, because underneath this top heavy layer of high paid administrators there is a core of dedicated workers who a ant to serve the needs of the mentally ill Hut proper policies must be established and followed "Uardine all the areas uncovered by the legislative nd the people we elect, in good faith, to look nidi' .Mer the public's welfare must take that responsibility !:u!h to !uok i losely into such operations. -- Annual audits that would strike fear into the hearts of any administrator must be a matter of course The abuses of public trust uncovered at the Timp Mental Health Center are an example of what can nappen when public funds and government contracts a re not painstakingly protected. ( Hherwise, the opportunities for abuse are too many, a nd the safeguards for the public are too few. c Ann made popcorn.. Oh boy, did I chastised she make popcorn. myself. Why oh why didn't I tell the girl that popcorn multiplied mightily once it hit the frying pan? I realized that most of the mess was my fault. These are things you don't learn at school. (For awhile there I was blaming all their teachers for the mess at home.) After Donna cleaned up the macaroni, she and her friend, Barbara, decided to make candles. Cute little candles for Christmas. Oh joy, when momma came home, she found a row of perfectly executed little candles lined up along the piano top. They were burning brightly, lending cheer to an otherwise disturbed household. The little twins were crying because all their crayons had disappeared, .and the boys were yelling because someone had spilled paraffin wax all over the basketball and football they just happened to be tossing in the living room, kitchen, bedrooms, ahh well, you know. Boys will be boys. Yes, all that happened during one day of spring vacation when it was too rainy for the little ones to go outside. Then, about 4 p.m. in the afternoon, there was an exodus. Oh yes, it was still raining outside, but every little kid in the neighborhood was standing out on the sidewalk bawling to go back inside. However, t he doors were all locked. That was the day I started a lifelong appreciation for teachers. Bless their little hearts. But, if they send the kids outside for recess on a stormy day, we all threaten to sue. Don't we? You'd better believe it. letters to the editor Lehi needs program to control the rats very well kept by the families who live there. But we are not immune to this problem, it transcends all economic boundaries. Nothing has been so frustrating to me as trying to get something done about this field, except talking to the Superintendent of Public Works for Lehi. Editor: I am writing this letter to address the question of why Lehi doesn't try to adopt some sort of weed abatement law? Whether it be beautification, rodent and insect control, or fire hazard. In the 12 years I have resided in Lehi, I have been plagued with two of these problems. There is an open field behind our subdivision, which is a breeding ground for rats, mice and grasshoppers. I have also watched it be set on fire with fireworks. I no longer have a vegetable garden because I was tired of fighting the grasshoppers. They were reaping the harvest of my hard work. Then there are the rats. I could not fathom in my wildest dreams of ever going out to my dog pen and finding seven dead rats, but it happened. The alarming facts are, rats only travel 100 to 150 feet from their nest. That is their home range. I live in a neighborhood that is The environmental health specialist has been very helpful to me in providing a pamphlet on rats. It boils down to th.e fact that the field is the problem and the debris in it. A weed abatement law could lessen the damage grasshoppers do, be helpful to those who suffer from allergies due to weeds and grasses, fire danger to your home and property and the diseases rats and mice carry. There is no reason why families who live next to these fields should suffer with the total disregard of these property owners. -- Robin L. Smith Lehi ffiffllK FOR SNAPPER DEPENDABILITY Get the ease and reliability of a SNAPPER 3HP, 19" Push Mower plus the convenience of a free Grass Catcher, all for only $259.95. There's no down payment and low You'll monthly payments with get the best value yet on a lightweight, compact Gas-Power- SNAP-CREDI- SNAPPER. This doesn't happen on regular basis 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 assignment. 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 he could type very fast, and man 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 ar equally adept at using cliches. Believe it or not, I sometimes have a dickens of a time finding the right cliche for a given story. But that's the way the cookie crumbles, as they say. So last week, as I was writing the editor's column - By MARC HADDOCK 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. i How many of you noticed it? How many of you even read the editorial, after I worked my fingers to Ihe twines typing it? Just as I thought. that work when right down the toilet.) Anyway, I was working my way first paragraph, the through 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 Ihe 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 AH $259.95 PRICE: Exceptional value for adage: "In this newspaper, we try to provide something for everyone. Since some people are always looking for mistakes, we try to include a few of those, too" . . . and we do it in a regular branches, if you will. Then I 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. at least retrospectively, won't contain an editorial my 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. And then, the FREE Grass money. ATTACHMENT: Catcher Kit for SNAPPER. Get a FREE your Come in today and see this outstanding value for yourself. 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