Metro, that sterling "regional government" had a great little money-making scheme going on - until somebody caught on. Metro's always looking for more cash to pay "planners" to find ways to force you out of your car, but they went a little overboard on this one. Yesterday, they admitted that due to "records in disarray", they sort of accidentally resold hundreds of grave-sites in the 14 pioneer cemeteries they "manage".
As is usually the case in political circles in the Portland area, Metro held things down until the weekend; thus taking advantage of the most lethargic portion of the weekly news cycle. Agency officials said the problem was first discovered in the fall of 2007 but did not go public with the extent of the problem until Friday.
KATU first learned about the extent of the resold gravesites through a Metro whistleblower’s e-mail last month. In that e-mail the employee said someone had to investigate the problem because the agency was trying to hide the fact that it resold hundreds of grave sites.
“When you (KATU News reporter Thom Jensen) called to talk about it, we felt like we should let everybody know, so that’s what we did,” Metro’s COO, Michael Jordan said.
In other words: "We got caught dirty, so now we're trying to do damage control."
