DART chairman says no more jewelry and clothing funding advances

Good news on the DART front: The agency's new chairman has made it pretty clear that he's not interested in being in "the jewelry and clothing business." (Recall our recent post about the issue — employees started a separate bank account to facilitate employees' purchase of jewelry and clothing from a couple of vendors, then earned a commission from the transaction that was used to fund employee parties. But then the employees overspent the account, the vendors were mad about being stiffed, and the paperwork hit the media fan.)  Randall Chrisman told the DMN the obvious: There was no "nefarious" reason that the program, started 10 years or so ago, came around in the first place, but it's not the type of thing that a public entity needs to be doing. So after DART auditors rectify the mess (wasting resources that DART is supposed to be directing toward its core programs), the program will be over. Let's hope that's one lesson that stays fresh in everyone's minds at DART.