Archive for the ‘Oversight’ Category

Saying that the OLA’s report on nursing home management is harsh is understatement. The conclusions reached by the OLA paint a terrible picture of government mismanagement. For instance, the report says that Nobles’ office found problems ranging from “ineffective case management, unwritten and frequently changing policies, ineffective staff training, staff turnover that sometimes is 25 percent a year and a lack of staff confidence in leadership.”

That’s just the start of it. Jim Nobles is quoted as saying “‘the problems … are deep and pervasive and have been there a long time. They are rooted in poor management.’ Workers take pride in their work, Nobles said, but ‘for too long they have had to work in an environment that was … sometimes toxic.'”

According to the report, “people in ‘immediate jeopardy'” are supposed to be investigated in less than 2 days. “Just 17 percent of 2017 cases met a two-day deadline to be read, let alone investigated, the report showed.” In addition to that disturbing information, this information is damning:

State investigators found the leaders at the OHFC did not properly oversee abuse inquiries and family members were not kept informed. A review of 53 OHFC investigations found key witnesses were not interviewed and poor documentation of evidence.

This information is frightening:

This about this sentence:

OHFC does not have an effective case management system, which has contributed to lost files and poor decisions regarding resource allocation.

If management hasn’t established a system, then it’s impossible to consider these employees management. I’d argue that the people called management should be fired ASAP to protect the people.

Check out this recommendation:

The Legislature should require OHFC to regularly report on its progress in meeting state and federal requirements.

This is the type of stuff that should be a no-brainer. It’s proof that ‘management’ isn’t serious about fulfilling its responsibilities.

Saying that Rep. Paul Torkelson’s op-ed is scathing is understatement. Chairman Torkelson’s op-ed is a line-in-the-sand statement op-ed.

First, Chairman Torkelson wrote “The Minnesota House Transportation Finance Committee held hearings to find out what was going wrong. We’ve dedicated thousands of hours between legislators and staff responding to and fielding complaints from Minnesotans about the troubles they’re seeing. We’ve held several hearings to demand answers from Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration officials. We were told the problems were fixable and that the issue was not money-related.”

Next, Chairman Torkelson wrote “The problem is, the Dayton administration cannot guarantee the massive amount of funding they’re asking for will make MNLARS fully functional in the next year. We are committed to working with the Dayton administration to fix the problem, as Minnesotans deserve hassle-free trips to the DMV, but we will not give Governor Dayton a blank check. Until we receive some specific answers, assurances that those responsible for this mess are being held accountable, and a new direction that will likely involve outside technology experts, the legislature has no plans to throw good money after bad. Minnesota taxpayers deserve nothing less.”

Before he became governor, Dayton was the worst of 100 U.S. senators. During Gov. Dayton’s watch, we’ve had to endure the MNsure and MNLARS fiascoes. What’s to trust about Gov. Dayton? After reading this, I don’t trust Gov. Dayton:

A recent KMSP-TV investigative report found that three years ago a MNLARS analyst told the Governor’s Office directly that the program was “headed for a cliff,” and in a secret recording the Governor’s Chief of Staff told this analyst she was going to look into it.

That chief of staff is now employed in the private sector. Isn’t that a coincidence?

It’s obvious that the DFL, aka the Party of Big Government, is incompetent. Electing another DFL governor just means 4 more years of stunning incompetence.

Technorati: Mark Dayton, MNLARS, DMV, DFL, Paul Torkelson, Accountability, MNGOP, Election 2018