The Public-Private entity Audubon Nature Institute, which operates Audubon Park, Audubon Zoo, Insectarium and Aquarium on behalf of the Audubon Commission, is the subject of a report from the New Orleans Inspector General alleging the agency has mis-managed and co-mingled its revenue for more than 30-years.
Inspector General Derry Harper audit found the department spent tax payer money on lavish Christmas parties, Saints tailgates events, gift cards, and rewarded employees with electronics, like iPads and TVs.
"There was a holiday party and employees attending the party were able to receive two TV sets," Harper told WWL-TV.
The audit also says back in 2014 the department spent over $200,000 supporting a tax increase. "You can't use public funds in this case," Harper says. "To support a particular side of a referendum."
The referendum ended up going down in defeat.
But, Harper's charge that the entity blended the revenues, made it next to impossible to trace where their money was coming from.
"There's no hiding of money within Audubon," Audubon Nature Institute's Attorney Rebecca Dietz tells WWL-TV. "The OIG was able to see every single expendature and every single revenue source."
Harper responded: "The average New Orleanian should care about this because the commission is accountable, appointed by the Mayor, to manage and make sure they can demostrate accountability and do it in an effective way."
Harper's report starts right off stating "The Audubon Commission may have violated state and municipal law and prevailing legal authority when it entered into the hybrid Contract with the Audubon Nature Institute."
Later in the day, Audubon Nature Institute responded to the WWL-TV report by issuing a press release says they provided access to bank accounts, budgets, and expense codes, and reviewed three years' worth of Audubon's transactions, stating, "After the extensive review, the OIG did not find a single instance of fraud, waste, abuse, or impropriety in Audubon’s operations."
To read the full Inspector General's report, Click Here.
And to review the full press release from Audubon Nature Institute, Click Here.