No Comments! Be The First!
The “reasonable man” standard may be unreasonable
Posted By katie allison granju
There’s a new tool for dispensing justice in Knox County. Building upon a suggestion from Commissioner William Daniels, Commissioner Richard Briggs unveiled a dazzling world of opportunities when he proposed using the “reasonable man” standard to gauge the validity of undocumented p-card charges made by Mayor Mike Ragsdale and his senior staffers.
That Commission blessed this measurement without the presence of a single CPA or attorney among its number makes it all the more impressive. Because this is an equal opportunity column, let’s tweak the name and call it the “reasonable person” standard before we examine its numerous benefits.
The initial benefactors of this breakthrough are obvious. Team Ragsdale can now evade … er, explain thousands of dollars in p-card charges which lacked receipts. Since, as Mike Arms suggested some months back, careless newspaper and television journalists probably misplaced those receipts while inspecting county files, it’s only fair that Ragsdale, Arms, Van de Vate, Werner, Finch and Loyd get this second chance.
Hand in hand with a new sense of fair play for county officials comes substantial reductions in future costs.
For example, county employees devoted thousands of staff hours to writing, distributing and explaining the provisions of Knox County’s travel and purchasing card policies. With the reasonable person standard as their guide, supervisors can stop worrying about receipts and go about the business of supervising.
Employee Joe: “OK, I don’t have a receipt, but I tell you I was at Club LeConte last night entertaining the Volkswagen site selection team.”
Supervisor Jane: “Hmm. Well, I can see you haven’t shaved, you’re wearing an ‘I Love VW’ pin, your breath reeks of schnapps and beer, and you walked in whistling ‘Deutschland Uber Alles.’ Sounds reasonable to me. Here’s your approved expense report.”
Jun 2nd, 2008
