Why the Jim King Audit is Relevant

In compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) completed an audit in September of 2007 of King & Company, Certified Public Accountants, P.S.C. (Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky) of which current Louisville Metro Council Member, Council Budget Chair, and Louisville Mayoral Candidate Jim King is President. The PCAOB, which was created to protect investors and the public interest by promoting fair, and independent audit reports, notified the firm on October 22, 2007 that it DID NOT PASS with flying colors.

Possibly because the results of said audit were disputed by Mr. King (See his letter dated March 25, 2009 attached to the audit), the PCAO didn't release it's findings until May 21, 2009. Here's the highlights (red font was mine) :

The inspection team identified what it considered to be audit deficiencies.8/ The deficiencies identified included deficiencies of such significance that it appeared to the inspection team that the Firm did not obtain sufficient competent evidential matter to support its opinion on the issuer's financial statements.9/ Those deficiencies were –

(1) the failure to perform sufficient procedures to test the valuation and accounting for stock options issued; and (2) the failure to perform sufficient procedures to support the Firm's reliance on controls at a service organization.

B. Review of Quality Control System

In addition to evaluating the quality of the audit work performed on a specific
audit, the inspection included review of certain of the Firm's practices, policies, and
procedures related to audit quality. This review addressed practices, policies, and
procedures concerning audit performance, training, compliance with independence
standards, client acceptance and retention, and the establishment of policies and
procedures. As described above, any defects in, or criticisms of, the Firm's quality control system are discussed in the nonpublic portion of this report and will remain nonpublic unless the Firm fails to address them to the Board's satisfaction within 12 months of the date of this report.

Why did Mr. King delay over a year in responding to the PCAOB Audit?

Is that what we can expect him to do as our leader?

I wouldn't mind knowing what other defects, and criticisms of the Firm's quality control system are in the hush hush portion of the report, but it looks from King's response like it could have something to do with parimutuel gaming and how to value equity-based payments? I dunno.

Here's a link to the non-public portion if you are one of those geeks that understand this kinda stuff: http://www.pcaobus.org/Inspections/Public_Reports/2009/King_and_Company.pdf

According to King's exhaustive facebook bio, he has a "determination to bring accountability and transparency to Metro Government,." He recently even described to Phillip Bailey with the Leo "my understandings of the guiding principles of business and my ability to function as a CEO and lead large organizations."

Why is it the audit of his accounting firm relevant? BECAUSE HE MADE IT RELEVANT.

He claims ability to function as a CEO and lead large organizations qualifies him to be Mayor of Louisville. Well, then let's look closer at how he operates companies so we know what to expect.

1) Cher is awesome. 2) When are Jim and Katie King Resigning?

Everyone should listen to Cher once in a while to learn about the world and stuff.


Still no word on when Metro Councilman Jim King and Judge Katie King are planning on resigning their respective offices amidst being found guilty of violating campaign finance law.
I'm patient, to an extent. After all, it took Nixon a few days, too. As the CJ reported today, Jim King is expecting a lot of wealthy people to part with their hard-earned money Wednesday night. Money they think will go to a massive TV ad campaign, but sadly those funds will likely become the legal defense fund after the army of political consultants are paid. From Jim King's perspective, I guess it would make more sense to wait until those checks cleared before facing the music.

But just in case they really think they are going to get away with it.
Help hurry this along. Privilege does not= above the law. Email Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway and demand Jim and Katie King face justice.

Jim and Katie King Found Guilty!

That's what the headline should have read in Friday's Courier Journal.

But instead, Joe Gerth reluctantly reports the information with 3 sentences. 3. That's coverage of criminal findings in a case against a sitting Judge and a sitting Metro Council Member that is running for Mayor? Nothing about how Ed Springston was responsible for filing the original campaign finance complaint. Kudo's to the Leo's Fatlip for covering that.

I would have missed the coverage myself if Steve Magruder hadn't brought it to my attention on historyandissues.org. Kudo's to Steve, too.

Oh, and my favorite quote from this mess: "Why would an attorney seeking a Judgeship ask a CPA for legal advice?" Ed Springston

Final lesson for this story, don't do a google image search for King Dong until you are ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that you Safe Search is on. I didn't get that advice from my CPA, btw.

AHTF Passes! Boring Louisville Metro Council Coverage Follows

AHTF Passes!

Spent a couple hours at Louisville Metro Council Meeting tonight. I went to join the audience members in support of passing the ordinance that gets the Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF) off the ground. (Thanks for nudgin' me to come Becki!) It passed.

It passed with only Councilman Doug Hawkins voting against. Why did he do that?
Did I mention he was also late for the meeting?
Next step is for Mayor Abramson to appoint 13 members of the community to serve on the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Board within the next 90 days for the Metro Council's approval.

One of the neatest things about the new board, Councilwoman Tina Ward-Pugh, who co-sponsored the thing with Councilwoman Mary Woolridge, elaborated on was the need for the board to represent the diversity of areas of Louisville, not just the East end, but also the South and West ends. So 7 members of the board have to live West of I-65, and 6 live East of I-65. Also, all 13 members will need to be selected from a different specialty: banker, member-at-large, low-income housing advocate, affordable housing-eligible- consumer, one low income hosuing advocate, one Metro-Council member appointed by MC Prez, neighborhood association rep, member of metro govt reporting to Mayor, someone from a non-profit developer, a social service provider, member of Homebuilders Assn, member of Apartment Assn, representative of homeless individuals, and a member of Greater Louisville Realtors Association.
Hmm, I more than one of those categories.

Rachel Hurst spoke emphatically in support of the pasing of AHTF as did David Duchkin (sp?).
Directly before the ordinance went to vote, 3rd District Councilwoman Mary C. Woolridge, whose district includes Shively, Park DuValle, Park Hill, Algonquin and California neighborhoods alerted everyone that the latest data show that there are 571 homeless children in her district. Wow. Glad it passed! Also, a few Councilpersons went out of their way to praise all the work Councilwoman Ward-Pugh put into the making the thing work.

Other Council meeting highlights:

Council President David Tandy says Councilpersons Kevin Kraemer and Bob Henderson had excused absences. I think that sounds funny cause it reminds me of middle school.

Lt. Col. Troy Riggs of Metro Police was honored for his service as he's taking a job in Texas.

Cynthia Knapek of Operation Brightside reported that The last cleanup went well with a ton of volunteers, especially from Councilman Tandy and Councilwoman's Barbara Shanklin's Districts, so they got a plaque and a broom respectfully. The next clean-up is scheduled for November 7th!

An ordinance passed unanimously amongst the Councilmembers present that says that Louisville has to spend it's stimulus money only on goods manufactured in the United States. Councilman and renowned historian Tom Owen took a couple minutes to preach on the evils of protectionism, even to go as far to note how they were a factor in causing War War 2. Noting that if it got out that Louisville, KY didn't buy products abroad, it would be harder to recruit international companies to do business with us. An excellent argument.
In fact, while sitting there, he persuaded me to oppose the ordinance. Yet he voted for it anyway as did everyone. This is the point where I scratch my head. He distinctly didn't agree with the principle of the bill, and there was indications that he wasn't the only one that felt that way, yet they vote to approve it unanimously as if they're doing what they've been told or agreed to behind closed doors. I'm just saying, that's what it looks like when you vote for something that you don't agree with.

Mike Leary, of Clifton, was Councilwoman Ward-Pugh's guest as he spoke about the really cool raised garden project going on a patch of ground Sacred Heart is volunteering the use of. It just got an award. Kudo's to UPS for helping out with a little grant. They even get storage water for the raised gardens from the roof run-off of an adjoining house. That's neat-o.

Finally, if you've read this far, you deserve something lighter: Councilperson Brent Ackerson is a bit of a hottie in person, even with his funny little bow-ties. Alas, I'm not a home-wrecker and I saw the ring. So oh bother. But it would be nice to replace some at least a couple of these guys with people that are a bit more pleasant on the eyes.

Other stuff happened too, some zoning thing in Fern Creek for a building beside that Brown-Mackey college but it isn't accredited is it? Anyway- I'm headed to the kitchen to see what happens when I mix Red Bull with ice cream. Reporting on a council meeting is little like taking ambien.

Louisville Mayoral Debate Coverage of Tyler Allen, et al

Waaaa! Jake called me a "Fancy Pants Lady Operative," - whatever it takes I guess to improve the quality of communication between Louisville's prospective new government (Tyler Allen) and the voters that are burdened with choosing who it will be. (Tyler Allen)

Here's what looks like the only coverage of the debate for the Mayor of the "16th Largest City in America" nonetheless:

Video Clip of Tyler at First Debate

Here's a video clip of Tyler Allen from the first debate hosted Thursday night by Metropolitan Louisville Women's Political Caucus. I apologize in advance for sound quality, I fail at editing video. More coverage of the debate coming soon.

First Democratic Mayoral Debate Tonight!

Women's Caucus Roundtable is hosting a debate between the Democratic mayoral candidates tonight from 5:30pm - 7:00pm at City Cafe located at 505 West Broadway, Louisville, KY 40202

Be sure to rsvp to Angie Wallace at akwallace0818@yahoo.com if you will be attending.

And so there's no mistake about my bias- I'm for Tyler ;) -

Huge Turnout for Tyler Allen's Press Conference!

There was a HUGE turnout of enthusiastic supporters that showed up to hear Tyler Allen's historic announcement that he's running for mayor. Tyler was introduced by Metro Council Member Tina Ward-Pugh who pledged her endorsement for him. For more info about his campaign, check out his website: http://Tyler4MAYOR.com

Whaddya doing this weekend, Louisville?

Here's some great ideas for you, and it's your chance to see me at both of them!:

Saturday, Sept 12:
Homeward Bound 5K Run/Walk in Cherokee Park, is the 2nd Annual Fundraiser for the Coalition for the Homeless. The registration says "Runner Registration" but that just means we're all "running to end homelessness." Pretend like it says Runner/Walker Registration. Angie Fenton and Terry Meiners are celebrity guests.

Sunday, Sept. 13:
17th Annual Louisville AIDS Walk and Pet Walk starts at 3pm. The run starts at 2pm, and of course people start arriving for the fun at 1pm. There's always something for the kids, although now there's pets, that seems to be what keeps them the most occupied. The Walk starts at the Belvedere, then we cross 2nd St bridge into Jeffersonville, loop around to walk back the other side of the bridge back to the Belvedere...I think it's only about 2 miles round trip.
If you wanted to directly sponsor Curt, knock yourself out!

Yarmuth Town Hall Nutshell

Got the chance to attend Yarmuth's Town Hall Meeting on Healthcare reform tonight at Central High School. I have to say I was really impressed with the event overall. Yarmuth not only allowed extremely controversial questions but earnestly answered them with honesty even when it meant saying "I don't know." I was really overwhelmed with how well he kept his composure and wit, while visibly sweating. While headed in, David Adams was a few people behind me, and if he was wearing body armor, as he instructed people to do via twitter, it wasn't apparent.



I had the good fortune of sitting beside Rep. Jim Wayne (D-35th District) which came in handy as the 2 hecklers that were setting behind us (One is acting pensive in the picture, he's faking) kinda got out of hand. When security wasn't around, Rep. Wayne turned around and forcefully commanded that they be quiet. After some childish reluctance they ceased heckling for the remainder of the event. Go Rep. Wayne!

While leaving I got a chance to visit with Senator Gerald Neal D (33) , Steve Magruder, Lisa Tanner, and Shawn Reilly who I gathered were all in good spirits following what turned out to be a very productive town hall. Not only did I leave with a better understanding of what's on the table, but also I had a better understanding of what people are fearing. And that was good information. It was also good for those people that feel like their voice is muted to have the opportunity to confront their government. I'm sure they felt better after they got a chance to do it too. The whole event was very inspiring of the Democratic process, even though I would have preferred a little tighter security during the event when some people's heckling just got out of control.

Some people heckled whenever the word Medicare was even said...I didn't get that. I thank God my Grandmother had Medicare during the last years of her life.
To recap: Town Hall Good.

Here are some more photos:

Here you'll see Yarmuth aids (including House candidate Marty Meyer) with walkie talkies organizing the ticketing of the crowd. It was fortunate they chose a venue that seated so many because the turnout was incredible.
Long line! Oh my!


After quieting the crowd, Yarmuth's Scheduler Gil Reyes introduced the Congressman. Yarmuth started by asking the audience the following questions, getting a show of hands on:
1) Who has health insurance premiums that have gone up over the last few years?
2) Who thinks we need to reform health care?
He then laid out our options:
1) Do nothing, 2) Single Payer, 3) Hybrid, 4) Leave it up to insurance companies.
All 4 options gave different parts of the audience a chance to Roar real loud from the get go!


We did the Pledge of Allegiance and then we sang.




Pictured above is James Coyle asking one of the more heated questions posed tonight. Coyle asks about if illegal immigants being covered in the proposed plan?... Yarmuth shows us in the actual document where we can see on the screen "...no federal payments to undocumented aliens..."
A citizen named Tim asked if congress would consider ideas offered in the recent op-ed from president of Whole Foods. Yarmuth responded "yes." He added that free market approaches don't always work with healthcare, saying "It's not free market now anyway as insurance companies and baseball teams are exempt from anti-trust laws. Only two insurers in ky control market."

Interestingly, following the Town Hall on the corner of S. 11th St and W. Chestnut Sts., I found a peaceful demonstration by people supportive of healthcare reform:

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September 3rd, 10:09am Update:

One issue that my friend Keith just reminded me, when an African-American woman, I believe her name was Gracie Lewis, began her question with her belief that "healthcare was a right," she got by far the most boo's and heckling from the audience. Even after intervention from the moderator, we still couldn't hear her question. Since the opponents of the healthcare plan chose to mute her out so enthusiastically is, in itself, strong evidence that what's behind much of this anger and emotion is inherent racism.

Check out the 2 minute mark of the WHAS Coverage. You'll hear the only part of the question I heard. What followed was what seemed like an eternity of her trying to negotiate the rest of her question out as the noise allowed it and I never did hear it clearly. You'll see her below in the blue shirt...If anyone caught her name, let me know because I want to drop her a card.

If I wasn't already for healthcare reform, I would have chosen to be once the opponents flaunted their true colors.

9.3.09 2:56pm Update: If anyone has contact information for any of the people that asked legitimate questions at last night's debate, there's a nice FOX News lady that wants to talk to them. Just email me: curtster3@yahoo.com & we'll get them hooked up.