State Auditor General Suggests He Audit Phila. Parking Authority

The Philadelphia Parking Authority’s swift removal of its Exec. Dir. Vince Fenerty following cases of sexual harassment has drawn attention from a high office in Harrisburg.

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale today released the following statement regarding the Philadelphia Parking Authority:

“The recent incidents at the PPA associated with alleged sexual harassment by the former executive director underscore that the long-overdue need for full performance and financial audits by an independent statewide agency.

“At this point, as the Pennsylvania’s independent auditor general, I am reviewing all options available to bring some desperately needed light and insight into the financial and operational activities of this government entity.

“Yesterday, PPA indicated it may be open for some sort of outside review; hopefully this a first step in making this government entity more transparent, and that would be good for the authority and for the people served by it.

“Beyond the PPA, some of the most frequent audit requests I receive involve various municipal authorities across the commonwealth that in most cases operate without state-level oversight. That lack of transparency of these authorities must end, and end soon.

“I urge the General Assembly to enact legislation that would give the Dept. of the Auditor General the statutory authority to conduct performance and financial audits of all municipal authorities in Pennsylvania.”