Is county emerging from its abyss?

"It's almost like a board-of-directors kind of feeling," panel member Vern Della-Piana said. "(County officials) know somebody is watching."

The troubled fleet operations (fleet director Nick Morgan was placed on administrative leave last week pending the results of an investigation into alleged personal wrongdoing) have been a catalyst for change, but Corroon said all departments are being reviewed.

One thing on the immediate horizon is reducing surplus balances in the county's 43 funds that are designated for specific things, including flood control, library, the planetarium, fine arts, sanitation and, yes, fleet.

Several observers — including the citizens panel and a New York bond analyst — have said most of those funds have excess surpluses. A strong positive fund balance at first glance might be viewed as a good thing, but in practice it makes fund administrators less accountable for what they're spending, since they don't have to go to the County Council to ask for the money and thus provide accountability.

"It allows a particular organization to feel too comfortable," said county chief administrative officer Doug Willmore.

As one example, the citizens review panel said fleet has $9 million more than it should in excess fund balance.

In addition to reducing the balances, the county is also looking for ways to combine some of those funds, putting more programs in the general fund where they have to compete for dollars.

"It's a good start," Della-Piana said.

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E-mail: aedwards@desnews.com