Editor,
The City of Carmel and the Carmel Redevelopment Commission have never had a financial-statement audit by a CPA firm that gave a clean opinion. The State Board of Accounts is a political entity with its director appointed by the party in office. It has a record of being less than candid in its fund reviews. Anything published by the state board is screened and approved by politicians. It is not independent.
Loren Matthes, a candidate for Carmel City Council (West District), uses the word audit very loosely (in a column posted April 17). There are government accounting and audit standards published by the Government Standards Board. The State Board of Accounts doesn’t certify it uses them in its work. Nothing the state board does is independent – even if it uses an outside accounting firm.
Matthes’ misleading statements don’t surprise me. When I was a member of the Carmel City Council, I remember how she tried to mislead us so we would approve whatever debt Mayor Jim Brainard wanted. During that time she was handsomely rewarded.
Carmel needs a financial-statement audit independent of politicians of any sort.
John V. Accetturo, Carmel
