LOCKPORT – City school district officials and the president of Ridge Road Express are contesting a state audit, released Tuesday, that said the district did not get its money’s worth on bus consulting services and that it overpaid for diesel fuel.
Superintendent Michelle T. Bradley said, “Certainly, we take it very seriously, but interestingly enough, we started to address these issues before the audit because we had some concerns.”
On June 10, the School Board hired Kevin P. Love, former transportation supervisor for the West Seneca district, as the district’s busing consultant. He succeeded Thomas Ryan, who was general manager of Ridge Road Express, the district’s busing company, for 20 years. The State Comptroller’s Office found that a little too cozy and said the old arrangement raised “a substantial concern as to whether the consultant could truly provide independent monitoring and consulting services in the district’s best interests.”
The Comptroller’s Office made the same point in a 2008 audit, but the following year, the district rehired Ryan, who worked through a company set up by Ridge Road Express called Scholastic Transportation Management Services. It was paid $179,194 from 2009 to 2015.
“That vendor was 50 percent cheaper than any others. Why would we pay double because of a perceived conflict of interest?” asked Deborah A. Coder, assistant superintendent for finance and management.
R. Thomas Weeks, president of Ridge Road Express, said Ryan never made any financial decisions.
The district also has not bid any of its six transportation contracts since 2009 – three go back to the 1980s, the audit said – and has simply rolled them over when they expire.
Coder said that the district lost $8 million in state aid in 2010 because of a state fiscal crunch and chose to extend Ridge Road Express with a 2 percent increase rather than seek bids, which she said probably would have increased busing costs 20 percent at a time when the district could ill afford it.
The audit said the company didn’t submit sufficient documentation for bus mileage and accused Ridge Road Express of overbilling the district for 5,249 gallons of diesel fuel in 2013-14 at a cost of about $16,300, based on miles driven as listed in the bus reports, records of fuel purchases and typical fuel mileage of a school bus. The audit also criticized the 5 percent add-on charge for warm-up and idling time, which the report said is not a charge listed in the contracts for bus services.
Weeks had his doubts about the audit’s accuracy. “We will get to the bottom of it. I’m not nervous about it at all,” he said.
see more: http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/lockport/lockport-city-school-district-busing-company-president-contest-state-audit-on-consulting-services-fuel-20160113
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Saturday, January 9, 2016
How Political Consulting Became a Multibillion Dollar Racket
Adam Sheingate, a political scientist at Johns Hopkins University, just released his new book Building a Business of Politics: The Rise of Political Consulting and the Transformation of American Democracy. The book takes a critical look at the rapid growth of profitability and influence in U.S. political consulting industry, especially in a post-Citizens United world where the money spigot runs untapped. In a recent New York Times op-ed, Sheingate explained how and why the amount of money spent on ad buys—where consultants make their money—in 2016 will eclipse that in any previous election.
This week, The American Prospect talked with Sheingate about his book and the impact of consulting on the American political process. This interview has been edited for style and clarity.
What did you set out to do with this book and what did you ultimately find in your research?
I want people to think about politics from the perspective of a consultant. We normally think about it from the perspective of candidates; we might think about contributions from donors; we certainly think about voters. But we don’t give enough attention to the people whose businesses survive based on the money they earn in politics, so I wanted to focus attention on that perspective.
I think once you do that, you find some of the characteristics of politics are reflections of the incentives of the consultants who run the campaign. The heavy reliance on media is partly due to the fact that it’s the way to make the most money.
You lead off the book by introducing Mentzer Media, which is one of the most prominent consulting firms for GOP campaigns. The firm has made more than $1 billion in campaign ad buys, most recently placing $245 million in ads for Mitt Romney’s 2012 super PAC. You also briefly highlight the large market share that GMMB, another consulting firm, enjoys on the Democratic side. In 2012, it handled $435 million in spending—90 percent of which came from Obama’s campaign.
How are consulting giants like these indicative of the modern political consulting industry?
see more at: http://prospect.org/article/how-political-consulting-became-multibillion-dollar-racket
This week, The American Prospect talked with Sheingate about his book and the impact of consulting on the American political process. This interview has been edited for style and clarity.
What did you set out to do with this book and what did you ultimately find in your research?
I want people to think about politics from the perspective of a consultant. We normally think about it from the perspective of candidates; we might think about contributions from donors; we certainly think about voters. But we don’t give enough attention to the people whose businesses survive based on the money they earn in politics, so I wanted to focus attention on that perspective.
I think once you do that, you find some of the characteristics of politics are reflections of the incentives of the consultants who run the campaign. The heavy reliance on media is partly due to the fact that it’s the way to make the most money.
You lead off the book by introducing Mentzer Media, which is one of the most prominent consulting firms for GOP campaigns. The firm has made more than $1 billion in campaign ad buys, most recently placing $245 million in ads for Mitt Romney’s 2012 super PAC. You also briefly highlight the large market share that GMMB, another consulting firm, enjoys on the Democratic side. In 2012, it handled $435 million in spending—90 percent of which came from Obama’s campaign.
How are consulting giants like these indicative of the modern political consulting industry?
see more at: http://prospect.org/article/how-political-consulting-became-multibillion-dollar-racket
Monday, January 4, 2016
How to master the application process for consulting jobs
Everyone talks about how competitive it is to get into investment banking, but consulting is just as tough. As someone who recently started at a Big Three strategy consulting firm, and who now screens graduate applications, I can tell you it’s getting fiercer. The likes of Mckinsey and Bain received up to 100 applications for every role this year.
Getting into consulting is not all about innate talent, there’s a strategy to your application. These are my tips for getting in.
1. Apply to a lot of firms
The first stage of the selection process will be some form of problem-solving test. Firms use this to filter from roughly 100 to 50 candidates for available role. These tests are not intended to assess your ability in ‘maths’, they try to test the way in which you think through problems.
Natural problem-solving ability is important. But the questions often repeat – if not in content they do in style. It is possible to learn how to solve the questions well or more quickly. Making sure you get plenty of practice is therefore critical. To get ahead of your rivals, apply to lots of firms across professional and financial services. Most firms will pass you automatically to the testing stage giving you fantastic, real practice.
2. Have a ‘top’ university on your CV
Academic standards will be used to chop 50 candidates for every role to around 25. Missing minimum grade requirements (normally an A in GCSE Maths and English and a predicted or realised 2.1 degree or above) causes an immediate rejection.
Less obviously, going to the wrong university can get you shown the door immediately too. Consultancies receive so many applications that they lack the resources to screen each one of them manually. They can also be very picky.
If you do not go to one of the top universities in your country (i.e. a ‘top 10’ university in the UK, or an Ivy League college in the U.S.), then your application will not even be considered. Don’t give up if you’re not in the right place now though – your chances could be increased hugely by pursuing postgraduate education at a better-regarded university. Then, you’d have both a more impressive level of education and a better university on your application. Alternatively, focus on building your experience.
3. Get work experience, but not too much
Manual CV and cover letter screening cuts the number of candidates from around 25 towards 10 for every role. At this stage, candidates will have the minimum academics and have passed the problem solving test. CVs are therefore graded for two things: exemplary academics and/or the right sort of experience.
PhD, university level awards or first-class degrees are the best ways to get bonus points for academic achievements.
Having at least two months’ work experience at a blue-chip firm is a strong support to an entry level application too. Well-regarded internship programmes – within or outside of consulting – are therefore well worth doing. Spending a summer in an investment bank and then applying to a consultant is almost as good as experience in consulting.
On the other hand, if you have loads of experience, you are unlikely to be considered for a role above entry-level.
The most efficient route into consulting is to apply straight after university having done one summer internship. More experience does not equal an increased chance of success.
Other experiences outside of work will also be considered. It is well worth including part-time jobs you may have held during your studies, for instance, as these will be taken as a positive demonstration of initiative. Extra-curricular leadership roles could even be treated as equivalents to internships or jobs. Your role in a society at university could well be the difference between getting an interview and being rejected.
4. Use a repeatable formula to write cover letters
Cover letters are used to confirm your interest in consulting and for the specific firm that you are applying to. Not much else.
It is therefore worth being ruthless and formulaic with how you write them. Writing something around one side of A4 is important – it shows effort, and most other candidates will do the same.
Pointing towards your key skills or achievements is also useful in making sure an assessor gets the right points out of your CV. But the key thing you must do is to write something specific and relevant about the firm you are applying to. Mentioning your attendance at a recruiting event (and a person you met there) is ideal.
see more: http://news.efinancialcareers.com/uk-en/230291/consulting-applications/
Getting into consulting is not all about innate talent, there’s a strategy to your application. These are my tips for getting in.
1. Apply to a lot of firms
The first stage of the selection process will be some form of problem-solving test. Firms use this to filter from roughly 100 to 50 candidates for available role. These tests are not intended to assess your ability in ‘maths’, they try to test the way in which you think through problems.
Natural problem-solving ability is important. But the questions often repeat – if not in content they do in style. It is possible to learn how to solve the questions well or more quickly. Making sure you get plenty of practice is therefore critical. To get ahead of your rivals, apply to lots of firms across professional and financial services. Most firms will pass you automatically to the testing stage giving you fantastic, real practice.
2. Have a ‘top’ university on your CV
Academic standards will be used to chop 50 candidates for every role to around 25. Missing minimum grade requirements (normally an A in GCSE Maths and English and a predicted or realised 2.1 degree or above) causes an immediate rejection.
Less obviously, going to the wrong university can get you shown the door immediately too. Consultancies receive so many applications that they lack the resources to screen each one of them manually. They can also be very picky.
If you do not go to one of the top universities in your country (i.e. a ‘top 10’ university in the UK, or an Ivy League college in the U.S.), then your application will not even be considered. Don’t give up if you’re not in the right place now though – your chances could be increased hugely by pursuing postgraduate education at a better-regarded university. Then, you’d have both a more impressive level of education and a better university on your application. Alternatively, focus on building your experience.
3. Get work experience, but not too much
Manual CV and cover letter screening cuts the number of candidates from around 25 towards 10 for every role. At this stage, candidates will have the minimum academics and have passed the problem solving test. CVs are therefore graded for two things: exemplary academics and/or the right sort of experience.
PhD, university level awards or first-class degrees are the best ways to get bonus points for academic achievements.
Having at least two months’ work experience at a blue-chip firm is a strong support to an entry level application too. Well-regarded internship programmes – within or outside of consulting – are therefore well worth doing. Spending a summer in an investment bank and then applying to a consultant is almost as good as experience in consulting.
On the other hand, if you have loads of experience, you are unlikely to be considered for a role above entry-level.
The most efficient route into consulting is to apply straight after university having done one summer internship. More experience does not equal an increased chance of success.
Other experiences outside of work will also be considered. It is well worth including part-time jobs you may have held during your studies, for instance, as these will be taken as a positive demonstration of initiative. Extra-curricular leadership roles could even be treated as equivalents to internships or jobs. Your role in a society at university could well be the difference between getting an interview and being rejected.
4. Use a repeatable formula to write cover letters
Cover letters are used to confirm your interest in consulting and for the specific firm that you are applying to. Not much else.
It is therefore worth being ruthless and formulaic with how you write them. Writing something around one side of A4 is important – it shows effort, and most other candidates will do the same.
Pointing towards your key skills or achievements is also useful in making sure an assessor gets the right points out of your CV. But the key thing you must do is to write something specific and relevant about the firm you are applying to. Mentioning your attendance at a recruiting event (and a person you met there) is ideal.
see more: http://news.efinancialcareers.com/uk-en/230291/consulting-applications/
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