A look at Nassau County financials – “Whom did you trust?”

Submitted by Michael Boyle
June 13, 2016 1:00 a.m.

Kudos to the local media for correctly listing John Crawford’s title as the county’s Comptroller, and not, as Crawford calls himself, Nassau’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO). If you think the difference between the two positions is merely semantics, then you don’t understand the responsibilities of the positions, and you certainly don’t understand Mr. Crawford and his longstanding obsession of claiming credit for others’ accomplishments.

The latest example of this shameless self-promotion occurred last week when Crawford issued a “Press Release” by himself, for himself, about himself, praising himself. In it he lets the world know that he, John Crawford, was the one responsible for a favorable audit of the county’s books and accounting records. Crawford tells us, “I am proud to report that Nassau County remains fiscally healthy and is doing very well.” For Crawford to claim any credit for the county’s financial condition would be similar to the official scorer in Major League Baseball taking credit for a team’s on-field victory.

It is particularly galling when Crawford brags about increasing revenues and reserves when in reality he and his BOCC minions did everything they could to thwart a critical increase of one mill in the tax rate, without which our fiscal health could have been put on life-support.

So what are the requirements to become a CFO? According to Wikipedia, “Most CFOs of large companies have finance qualifications such as a Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Science, or come from an accounting background such as a CPA. A finance department would usually contain some accountants with CPAs….or equivalent status such as Master of Finance.” Mr. Crawford and his Deputy Clerk have none of these educational requirements, and as far as having CPAs on the clerk’s staff for expertise and guidance, there have been excellent CPAs assigned to the Clerk’s staff over the years, but all have left for a variety of reasons. Today there are none in the clerk’s office.

So why should any of this matter to Nassau County voters/taxpayers?

If Mr. Crawford would stick to performing his duties as the Comptroller (accounting and reporting) and quit trying to insert himself into county departments for which he has no authority or qualifications, then there would be no issues to resolve. But for at least the last eight years, Crawford has been waging a war of words and press releases against the BOCC and the county’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The whole thrust of the attacks is aimed at convincing the voters that OMB is staffed with alarmists whose recommendations should not be followed.

However, it should be noted that OMB is staffed by professionals (including a CPA), and is headed by Shanea Jones (Ass’t. County Mgr.) who holds both a bachelor’s degree and a Master Degree in Business Administration. She is also classified as a Certified Government Finance Officer, a valuable certification that neither Crawford nor his Deputy Clerk have the qualifications to even apply for the coveted designation.

There is yet another reason why analysis and recommendations from OMB are critical to effective and efficient management of county operations: OMB has no reason or incentive to provide inaccurate or overly optimistic information to the BOCC. They do not have to run for political office to keep their jobs, but instead are evaluated on the accuracy and reliability of their recommendations.

For example, when the BOCC is working diligently to prepare a balanced budget, Mr. Crawford will eagerly tell everyone, “There are millions of tax dollars in the county’s various accounts, and if the BOCC says otherwise, they are simply trying to scare and confuse you.” The people love this announcement, and Crawford smiles all the way to the next election.

But OMB says, “Wait a minute! Yes, there are millions of tax dollars in the county accounts, but most of it is legally restricted and cannot be used for any other purpose. It would be similar to a husband showing his wife the checking account balance the day after his paycheck was deposited, “Look dear, we’re rich.” To which his wife would reply, “Don’t forget we have to pay the mortgage, the utilities, food bill, insurance, car payment, etc. We’re not rich.” If you can understand this analogy, then substitute Crawford for the husband, and OMB for the wife, and you have a basic understanding of Nassau County finances.

You will not read any self-serving press releases from OMB, nor will you see them claiming credit for positive results, while disavowing any knowledge of less successful ventures. They stand behind their work, and they can be trusted to give the BOCC their best professional recommendations.

Whom do you trust?

Editor’s Note: Michael Boyle was the former chair of the Nassau County Board of Commissioners, and served as president of the Northeast Florida Regional Council.