CPB Inspector General's Report

[SOURCE: Corporation for Public Broadcasting, AUTHOR: Office of Inspector General]
"While we believe the aforementioned violations were primarily the result of the former Chairman’s personal actions to accomplish his various initiatives, our review also identified serious weaknesses in the corporate governance system. CPB’s internal control mechanisms did not function to protect the CPB Board of Directors (Board) and the Corporation. Potential problems in procurement and new policy initiatives should have been raised up the chain-of-command to the former Chairman and the full Board. Specifically, established procurement and contracting practices were bypassed in processing actions for consultant services initiated by the former Chairman and executive management, (e.g., in contracting with a consultant to evaluate program content and to identify and select two ombudsmen candidates without competition). Further, CPB management allowed consultants to begin work before contracts were executed and, in some instances, months before these activities were entered into the accounting system. In addition, the lack of formal personnel policies governing executive recruitment practices left CPB managers vulnerable to congressional criticism over hiring decisions." The report includes a host of recommendations for improving CPB governance. (Report No. EPB503-602)
http://www.cpb.org/oig/reports/602_cpb_ig_reportofreview.pdf