Dallas inspector general briefs commission on DalTech and Dallas Black Dance Theatre reviews, training and complaints rise

Bart Beavers, the city of Dallas inspector general, briefed the Ethics Advisory Commission on Jan. 29 about the Office of Inspector General's work in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 and the first quarter of the current fiscal year. Beavers described two external reviews his office completed -- of DalTech and the Dallas Black Dance Theatre -- new training and outreach efforts, a rise in incoming complaints, staffing additions and the operational changes since voters approved a charter amendment to establish an independent inspector general.

Why it matters: The OIG's reviews and recommendations affect how city funds are tracked and how agencies that receive city support are overseen. The office's internal and public outreach programs aim to increase ethics awareness across roughly 13,000 city employees and clarify how advisory opinions and complaints are handled after the OIG's new independent status.

Beavers said the DalTech review is a 13-page report with nine exhibits (728 pages of supporting material in the link he provided to commissioners). He said management accepted the report's findings and recommendations and that the review identified about $116,000 in change and unsupported costs that were not documented in sufficient detail to determine whether billed work matched contract terms.

"We gave the investigative report and all the exhibits to management, and we gave them about 30 days to give a management response. When that…