Southeastern Audit

Some members of New Hanover County's legislative delegation said Monday that they were blindsided by Sen. Julia Boseman's call for a state audit of Southeastern Center for Mental Health's finances. Republican Reps. Carolyn Justice and Danny McComas had been working with local officials on Southeastern's ongoing issues for weeks, Justice said. "We were shocked by the immediate call without any discussion with the delegation," said Justice. Justice said area lawmakers met Thursday in Raleigh with those involved with Southeastern about the regional mental health agency's funding concerns as well as the future of its crisis station, which state regulators temporarily shut down. Justice said Boseman was invited to the meeting but did not attend, sending a staff member instead. Southeastern officials agreed to prepare a report summarizing the center's problems by August.

The next day, Boseman sent her request to the state auditor's office, stating she was concerned that Southeastern's financial practices might have led to its funding crisis. "I had to act quickly and get on top of this as soon as possible," Boseman, a Democrat, said Monday. McComas sent a letter Monday to Southeastern officials stating that he took "exception" with the proposed audit. "Our House Delegation, in no way, shape (or) form, was part of this audit request, nor for that matter understood why it was called for, when we all agreed to the above mentioned report by August 1st," his letter stated. McComas said Rep. Sandra Spaulding Hughes, the fourth member of the Delegation and the other Democrat, attended the meeting and later told him she didn't know in advance of Boseman's request. (Vicky Eckenrode, WILMINGTON STAR-NEWS, 7/01/08).