Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Comments topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Public commenter alleges Rose Group invoiced borough to match E-rate funding; official review not stated
Summary
A member of the public told the Matanuska-Susitna Borough assembly and school board that she believes invoices from the Rose Group were billed to match federal E-rate connectivity grants and said the situation "looks like misappropriation of funds and fraud," without the meeting record showing any immediate staff response or formal referral.
During the joint meeting's initial audience participation period on March 25, a resident identified as Jackie addressed the assembly and school board to raise concerns about the borough—s library strategic plan work and invoices from a consultant, the Rose Group.
Jackie said the federal E-rate program provides grants only for internet connectivity and related telecommunications and asserted that the borough used E-rate money "to do a library strategic plan against the FCC laws." She said the Rose Group billed the borough for "computer, communications, telecommunications, and in it, connectivity" items that the commenter contended the Rose Group did not provide. "So if you remember what I said last week, what I said was this looks like misappropriation of funds and fraud," the commenter said; she prefaced that statement by saying, "I didn't say it was, I said it looks like."
The record: The comment is a citizen allegation reported verbatim from the public comment period; the meeting transcript does not record any staff response, formal finding, or assembly direction arising from the remarks during the hearing.
What the transcript shows and does not show: The speaker tied her assertions to the scope of the E-rate program and to invoices she said were billed to borough taxpayers. The transcript does not include audit results, a staff presentation, or a motion by the assembly to investigate or refer the matter to investigators. The borough or school district did not provide a contemporaneous response or corrective action on the record during the meeting.
Ending: The assembly proceeded to the budget presentation after audience participation. The transcript records no formal referral or official determination related to the speaker—s allegations during this session.
