Blackmer's pathetic spin on the loss of taxpayer's money

OPB reported this morning yesterday* that the City of Portland has finally located Emilie Boyles who stole -- er, illegally used taxpayer funds in the City's poorly conceived voter-owned election cash give away. Not surprisingly, Boyles moved out of state and owes the city 92 THOUSAND dollars -- which is probably a greater amount than what is gained through most armed robberies.

The City's elected auditor, Gary Blackmer, bares some responsibility for crafting, advocating, and overseeing our VOE cash give away system. Now he is responsible for getting the money back and is trying to positively spin the loss of taxpayer cash. According to OPB.org's report, Blackmer said:

We are hoping that she can get a good job somewhere and start earning some money and pay us back. We wish her good luck where she's living now and hope that she will remember Portland when she starts getting money in a paycheck.

"We wish her good luck"?!? Uh, she stole the City's money and made you look like a fool.

According to previous reports, Boyles has no high value assets and probably has no chance of landing a well-paying job. Also, her new non-disclosed home state may have a paycheck garnishment cap. So, realistically the City will not get a significant portion of the money back in Boyles' lifetime and taxpayers will be called upon to cover the loss. As the City's auditor, one would think he would be more honest about the chances of the City ever seeing its money again.

* I first heard the report during this morning's news radio broadcast, but their website dated the story yesterday.

Apparently I was irritated when I wrote this. I underlined corrections.