First of all, State Auditor Les Kondo has been tasked to do a comprehensive review of the HART rail project, not the City Auditor. If there is fraud, his office will uncover it. And to be perfectly frank, I resent Dr. Akina's insinuation that government auditors are somehow conflicted or unfit for the task.

Unsubstantiated allegations of fraud and abuse may be red meat for the Grassroots Institute's generally misinformed conservative audience but outside of that, his irresponsible statements serve only to undermine public confidence in our already besieged democratic institutions.

If Dr. Akina has evidence of fraud and abuse in HART's business operations, then I would respectfully suggest that he promptly contact the proper legal authorities. Absent any of that proof, which I strongly suspect to be the case here, he needs to stop playing to the general public's cynicism and fears with his wild accusations, shut up and let the good people in the Office of the Auditor do their job.