Nebraska auditor releases report on Commission on African American Affairs

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – On Friday, Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley released an audit report on the Commission on African American Affairs, a commission seeking to enhance the cause of African American rights and to develop solutions to problems common to all Nebraska African Americans.

The Commission was formed through the passing of LB 918 in 2020 and is comprised of 14 African American members who were appointed by the Governor from a panel of nominees submitted by the public. Each member serves a four-year term.

Some of Foley’s key report highlights include:

• The report covers the first four and a half fiscal years of the Commission’s existence, through Dec. 31, 2024, during which time it spent $347,000. Those expenditures are summarized in Exhibit B of the report (page 47).
• Despite its short existence, the Commission has had eight Chairpersons and four Executive Directors. The audit report alleges that the third of the four Executive Directors – John Carter, whose tenure lasted only two and a half months – misrepresented to the Nebraska Department of Administrative Services (DAS) his appointment to that position. None of the four Executive Directors have stayed longer than seven and a half months and the position has been vacant since April 1.
• Page four of the report identifies seven key audit findings:
  • Open meetings violations (details on page 5-12);
  • Alleged misrepresentations to DAS by John Carter that he was duly named Interim Executive Director (details on pages 12-20);
  • Questionable Commission expenditures (details on pages 20-28);
  • Questionable Commission purchasing card transactions (details on pages 28-31);
  • Violation of State contract bidding procedures (details on pages 31-34);
  • Excessive use of temporary employees (details on pages 34-35); and
  • Problematic reliance upon poor DAS – State Accounting assistance provided to the Commission (details on pages 35-39).

The full report is available here.

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