Long time coming

Finally, an indictment in the case of Community Action:

A federal grand jury Thursday indicted the former director of the Community Action of Minneapolis and his son, a Minneapolis police officer, on charges of alleged theft and fraud for misusing $250,000 in taxpayer money.

The indictment in the ongoing public corruption case alleges that Bill Davis ordered that his son, Jordan, be paid more than $140,000 from an alleged “slush fund” that was intended for heating and energy assistance for low-income residents.

Bill Davis had a nice gig going, for sure. Some of the details:

The indictment shows that Bill Davis used the CAM credit card for personal travel for himself and three girlfriends. He took more than 19 trips at CAM’s expense, including the presidential inauguration in January 2013 and a Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., in 2012. Other trips included Key West, Las Vegas, Hawaii, Cancun in Mexico, and a Caribbean cruise in February 2012.

Perfectly understandable destinations -- you can get a lot of action in those communities. But wait -- there's more:

Prosecutors also allege that Bill Davis incorrectly told CAM’s human resources staff that he married his girlfriend and that she was entitled to health and dental insurance. After falsifying their marital status on a form, the organization wrongly paid $7,826 in insurance premiums.

So, where was the oversight?

Bill Davis insisted last year that he would be vindicated after a scathing Minnesota Department of Human Services audit, which found that the nonprofit organization misspent at least $800,000 between 2011 and 2013 for everything from a car loan for Davis, travel, golf and other unauthorized expenses.

After the audit was first reported by the Star Tribune, the state raided the organization, confiscated documents and then shut it down. Bill Davis was suspended as several high-profile Democrats resigned from the board, including U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, state Sen. Jeff Hayden and several Minneapolis City Council members. Earlier this year, local FBI agents and the IRS began to investigate Community Action as a state-appointed receiver began determining how much money was misspent.

In a lot of places, the politicians who were supposed to be performing oversight would have a few questions to answer themselves. But here, in a Better Minnesota, there's apparently no need for watching the watchers.