Our Amazon.com Problem

Anyone following my recent posts knows the City has a problem with proper usage of the VISA procurement cards.

Below, we have a door opener purchased by Fire Captain Bil Gallio and shipped to the family business — Gallio Motorsports.  Given the nature of the item, this may have been a legitimate City purchase and shipped to the wrong address.

 

Fullerton doesn’t have a centralized ordering point, or a designated person, for Amazon.com purchases.  Instead, employees order items for the City using individual Amazon.com accounts, which for most people, are probably used for personal items as well.  That means home and work purchases are co-mingled together in the same account.

That could easily explain items shipped to the wrong address if the employee making the purchase forgets to override the defaults stored by Amazon.

Lest anyone think I’m constantly throwing rocks without ever offering a solution, here you go:  Amazon Business for Government  Nearly every instance of improper spending could have been prevented using that tool.

6 Replies to “Our Amazon.com Problem”

  1. It’s trivial to switch an Amazon account to an Amazon for Business account and require order approval. The needless commingling of personal and government purchases creates a risk with no reward. Absolutely retarded.

  2. What the heck is so trivial.
    Taxpayer money, need a paper trail.
    I prefer prior approval/requisition paper trails.
    If the city FD can spend over $1000 on a freakin refrigerator the city needs proper oversight.
    You wouldn’t run your own company in such a dismissive manner, unless you pay under table or receive
    cash and do not report income etc.
    Business as usual? FK that shite!

  3. Happy one year anniversary Joe Felz….. Time to tip a glass and reflect on the good fortune of all involved. Not a bad year at all ….. retirement, double dipping with consulting work. No embarrassing videos released to the public . Fitzgerald still the queen of her castle….Dan Hughes master of the cover-up double dipping and impressing the hell out of the mouse.
    Puppeteer, Andrew Goodrich anxiously awaiting his promotion to captain…The bagman, Jeff Corbett untouched by human hands. what’s good for the old chief is good for the new chief, also anxiously await Ing promotion to lieutenant.

    When Life deals you lemons, make lemonade.

  4. Compare the last four digits of the payment method – 1548 and check against other cards. The last Fire Hero captain was buying crap from his relatives.

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