A Little Bonding Can Save a Bundle

Another story Nov. 25 tells of more losses by Newport-Mesa Unified School District--possibly $1.2 million (“Wagner Accused of Grand Theft,” Nov. 25) (Prosecutors have more recently put the figure at $3 million).

Still no mention of any fidelity bond to help reimburse the district for at least some of its losses (as with the city of Newport Beach loss of about $2 million).

What is going on here? Most public entities such as cities and school districts are required to have some sort of bonding. In the two losses mentioned above, not one word has been said about fidelity bonds.

The problem is, of course, that any bonding has to go through the financial people of any organization, and when they see the bonding company requirements of two signatures, different people handling deposits and withdrawals, they decide that maybe too much regulation might hinder their defalcation plans.

Most school boards, city councils or boards of directors are made up of luminaries in the fields of carpentry, real estate speculation or plumbing. They may be geniuses in one special field, but they reach their level of incompetence when asked to serve the public. They simply aren’t familiar with all aspects of governance. The city managers are all trained in how to set and decorate head tables but their curriculum doesn’t include one good course in handling city funds.

It gets down to this fact: If the bonding company won’t bond a particular person because of some prior financial problem, why do we want him guarding our funds?

JOHN G. WATKINS

San Juan Capistrano