Tuesday May 20, 2008
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is a familiar presence on state roads. In the morning, his dark blue Crown Victoria occasionally passes Blog-o-rama’s lichen-covered Civic as it putts its way north along the parkway. It’s semi-flattering – and near flattening – when Blumenthal streams by, reading the Connecticut Post in the passenger seat.
Now, after an AP story last week that detailed his 7,000-miles-per-month driving habit, the AG seems ready to bite the bullet, downsize his ride and maybe even go hybrid, for you, the people who buy the gas for the jalopy.
The Blogster told you that to tell you this:A new 45-page audit of the state Department of Administrative Services indicates that of the thousands of mileage reports required of state employees each month, about 20 percent are NOT filed.
The state auditors found that during any given month, there are 725 reports not filed.
“The Department should take the necessary steps to ensure receipt of mileage reports in order to effectively monitor State vehicle usage,” the audit report said. “These steps may include the recall of vehicles and/or the suspension of agency motor pool privileges if State agencies fail to submit their mileage reports.”
Oh, by the way, the auditors’ report finds that the DAS has failed to meet state law requiring cars and light-duty trucks to meet a 40-miles-per-gallon threshold.
So maybe the best thing for the DAS to do would be to sell Blumenthal’s Crown Vic, for scrap.