An Arizona Republic editorial about Phoenix Mayor Mayor Greg Stanton tried to cover up the excessive spending of Valley Metro CEO Stephen Banta.
I suspect Phoenix City Councilwoman Thelda Williams and Phoenix City Councilman Tom Simplot are also involved in the cover up.
Our View: Valley Metro-gate is a real mess
Editorial board, The Republic | azcentral.com 4:29 p.m. MST December 2, 2015
Valley Metro CEO resigns amid public fund scandal
Editorial: We're learning now that there was no oversight and no champion for the public's highly valued transportation money.
Who knew or should have known that the big shot in charge was running an out-of-control expense account? Was there a deal to have him quietly resign?
The underlying scandal over expense irregularities demands an independent audit -- not a review by Phoenix, where Mayor Greg Stanton’s staffers reportedly offered Valley Metro CEO Stephen Banta an offer to resign while prolonging his salary and keeping things quiet.
This story has more plot twists than a telenovela, but it's your money they're wasting,
Banta resigned as The Arizona Republic was preparing to publish reporting about his fast-and-loose expenditures and misuse of public money.
Banta then rescinded his resignation, saying Stanton’s staff lured him to leave quietly before revelations that he’d been flying first class, dining like a tycoon and drinking at public expense.
Stanton's office issued a statement wishing Banta well as he sought "new challenges" without mentioning the issues raised in the Republic’s story, which was subsequently published.
If he’s allowed to rescind the resignation and has to be fired, he gets a year’s pay – $264,493 – plus other cash under a sweetheart contract that should raise even more questions about the quality of decisions being made on the public’s behalf.
It began with a Republic investigation that found Banta was reimbursed thousands of dollars for dinners that the guests he was supposedly entertaining don’t remember attending. The cost of one such meal was a highly memorable $477.
He used Valley Metro funds to buy alcohol while entertaining guests, which is a violation of Valley Metro policy.
He expensed $745 to take former Phoenix City Councilman Tom Simplot and two others to dinner in Washington, D.C., in March 2014, and later was reimbursed $99 for taking Simplot to Pita Jungle in downtown Phoenix, where the most expensive meal costs about $16. They do serve drinks, though.
Simplot was Valley Metro board chairman in 2009 and hired Banta.
The list of expense irregularities goes on.
Who knew or who should have known? Phoenix City Councilmember Thelda Williams, who serves on the two boards that oversee Valley Metro, says employee expenses don’t come to the board. They are approved by a financial officer who reported to Banta. She says that needs to change. No kidding.
Valley Metro operates public transit and has a $300 million budget, which includes federal transit dollars. It is a public resource. That calls for oversight.
But Williams says the oversight boards would have known nothing about Banta’s expenses if it hadn’t been for reporting by the Republic’s Craig Harris. Nice compliment. But an oversight board is supposed to oversee.
Williams asked for the city of Phoenix to do a financial audit of Valley Metro. Fellow Valley Metro board member and Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo wants an independent audit by an agency that does not have ties to any of the political entities represented on the oversight boards. The state Auditor General is respected and impartial, he says.
Gallardo’s idea is much better. But it could be a hard sell.
The results of an impartial audit might be embarrassing for members of an “oversight” board that approved a $25,000 bonus for Banta in August while apparently clueless about his expensive tastes.
The Valley Metro board will discuss Gallardo’s suggestion – and Banta’s on-again off-again resignation – at a meeting Thursday.
The board should accept the resignation and avoid paying Banta a large settlement. It should pursue an independent review of Valley Metro finances. It should restructure itself to offer real oversight. Meanwhile, Mayor Stanton should start explaining his role in Banta’s attempt to leave quietly.