Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Duet topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DUET director says agency has "substantial progress" on reforms; public calls for deeper oversight
Summary
DUET's executive director told commissioners the agency reduced debt, improved controls and maintained services for about 400 clients after asset sales and restructuring. Family members and advocates urged fuller accounting of past deficits, property sales and audit findings.
Tiffany Malone, executive director for DUET, told the Douglas County Board of Commissioners on July 28 that the agency has "completed or made substantial progress on every reform measure within Duet's authority under resolution number 164." She said DUET completed the sale of residential properties for nearly $5,000,000, used the proceeds to pay down debt and reduced accounts payable to about $350,000 while maintaining uninterrupted services for roughly 400 residents served by DUET programs.
Malone described internal changes including a restructured finance function and a partnership with a firm described as "Your Part Time Controller" to rebuild ledgers and move finance functions into Workday for better transparency. She acknowledged that some structural reforms "require action by ANSA, or the member counties," and said DUET had participated in intergovernmental discussions about those changes.
Public commenters pushed back on Malone's overview. Laura McCormick, who identified herself as the sister of a DUET client, said she had "a real problem with the glossy overview" and asked why the board had not seen a full accounting after an external audit that included an adverse going-concern opinion. "Millions of dollars of Enso real estate has been liquidated over the past several years to satisfy debts incurred," McCormick said, and she pressed the board for a comprehensive report on those transactions.
Commissioners pressed DUET and county staff for continued updates and for clearer documentation of the tradeoffs made during the agency's restructuring. County legal and administration said they would prepare a draft resolution if the board wanted to take future action to restore or rescind previous contract terminations; administrators noted that funding for the next fiscal year was already budgeted and that a motion would be needed only to cut funding.
