Assemblyman Cameron Smyth issued a statement Friday about recent revelations after an independent audit of the city of Vernon.
“Last year as a co-author of Speaker John A. Perez’s Assembly Bill 46 to disincorporate the city of Vernon I witnessed countless high-paid attorneys and lobbyists storm the halls of the Capitol in defense of the corruption and unsound practices we knew were present in the city.
“Despite the protests and assurances by these hired guns last year that everything was just fine in Vernon, the audit issued this week by the nonpartisan State Auditor confirms what we thought all along: Vernon remains entirely mismanaged.
“Operating in a deficit for more than two decades, engaging in speculative and risky rate swaps, and running the much vaunted energy plant at a deficit in order to maintain the highly sought after competitive electricity rates are just a few examples of questionable practices the State Auditor discovered.
“But perhaps one of the most shocking discoveries is the fact that Vernon entered into a 15 year natural gas contract at the height of the market, locking into an abnormally high rate for gas they can no longer use since they sold the plant.
“On top of everything is the disturbing report on the complete lack of progress Vernon has made on making critical governance reforms. Vernon has made a point of advertising that changes have been made, but the audit clearly found otherwise.
“After reading through all of the mismanagement uncovered by the Auditor’s office it is clear that Vernon has a steep uphill climb to get its financial house in order to avoid bankruptcy.”
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