FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Greene County Libertarian Party Backs Petition to Audit the City of
Springfield
 
Springfield, MO - November 12, 2005 - Vincent David Jericho of KSGF
1260 AM will be hosting 2004 City Council candidate Doug Burlison and
Greene County Libertarian Party Treasurer Tom Martz at 7:00 am on
Monday, November 14, to discuss a current initiative and petition
signatures drive demanding a state-conducted audit of the city of
Springfield.
 
Springfield currently maintains a contract with KPMG, an international
audit service conglomerate based in Switzerland, to conduct annual
reviews of the city's financial matters. What is the motivation behind
the current drive for another audit by the state?
 
According to Doug Burlison, the two audits are different in that the
private audit by KPMG "basically deals with financial matters; a state
audit reviews policies and procedures, as well." Illustrating concerns
for fiscal responsibility by city leaders, Burlison questions how
contracts have been awarded and how public funds have been spent. In
addition, Burlison says that during his recent city council campaign,
"all incumbents refused to sign the petition... The opposition by the
powers that be has been unexpected, and some city employees that have
anonymously expressed interest have also alleged that the job security
of any potential supporters has been threatened by their superiors, and
had their identities been known, they probably would have been looking
for a job the next day."

According to the public records on the city's own website, the budget
for 2003-2004 was well over $211 million, which translates to over
$24,000 spent each hour of the fiscal year. Based on a November 10
publication of the Springfield News-Leader, the city of Springfield, in
its entire history, has never been audited by the state, according to
the city Director of Finance. Says Burlison, "judging by the reaction of
some city officials to the proposed audit, it may very well uncover
areas in which the city may more responsibly utilize its budget."

"We care about our community, and when we're not doing the
Adopt-A-Street or Adopt-A-Stream cleanups, we're trying to make a
difference in other areas. This audit is another, and we believe there
is more cleaning up needed," says Greene County Libertarian Party
Chairman Keith Rodgers.

Members of the Greene County Libertarian Party are joined by individual
members of the Springfield Police Officers Association and of the
Citizens for Clean Energy in support of the audit by collecting petition
signatures. 5,000 legitimate signatures of registered city voters are
required for the state auditor's office to conduct the review for
compliance with state law. In order to secure the state audit and help
provide for greater accountability by the city government, the drive to
gather the remaining necessary signatures continues.

The Greene County Libertarian Party is affiliated with the Missouri
Libertarian Party, one of three established political parties in the
state of Missouri.

Contact:
Keith Rodgers, Chairman
Greene County Libertarian Party
P.O. Box 8401
Springfield, MO 65801
E-Mail: greene@lpmo.org