State Auditor Elaine Howle has a fearsome reputation for tunneling deeply into public agencies and finding nuggets of information that officials would prefer to remain hidden.
Recently, for instance, the Legislature directed Howle to delve into the finances of the University of California, and its cloistered executives, especially President Janet Napolitano, went into full DEFCON 1 mode.
Eventually, Howle learned that responses to her inquiries of officials at individual UC campuses were being routed through Napolitano’s top aides and sanitized of criticism before being forwarded to the auditors. [Read Full Article]