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The Ad Hoc Citizens Advisory Committee to the City's Audit Committee will give its report Monday, April 28. The report definitively states that the city auditor should be appointed by the city council and not appointed by the mayor in consultation with the audit committee and approved the council, as the mayor desires. Mayor Jerry Sanders stacked a charter review committee with lobbyists, lawyers and others beholden to the downtown establishment, particularly developers. This group recommended that the auditor be appointed by the city manager, who under the strong mayor concept is the mayor. Citizens vote on that and other matters June 3. Councilmember Donna Frye, who has been fighting for an independent auditor for five years, points out that former auditor John Torell lasted only two years because Sanders wanted him to play politics instead of mind the books. Both Frye and Torell have signed the ballot argument against the mayor's proposal, Prop C, on the ballot. They note that the mayor wants to appoint the person who audits the city departments the mayor himself manages. "Keep the fox out of the henhouse," they say. Also, the ad hoc committee notes in its report, "The committee asked for the documentation available for the processes used to manage the city finances and to produce the [Comprehensive Annual Financial Report] and found out these did not exist and/or were not available. It is virtually impossible to have any assurance of financial integrity without documentation of the financial processes." Says Frye, "The internal controls are inadequate to insure that the information is free from material misstatements. That is a big concern." Despite the bad internal controls, Sanders wants to appoint the person who audits him.
The Ad Hoc Citizens Advisory Committee to the City's Audit Committee will give its report Monday, April 28. The report definitively states that the city auditor should be appointed by the city council and not appointed by the mayor in consultation with the audit committee and approved the council, as the mayor desires. Mayor Jerry Sanders stacked a charter review committee with lobbyists, lawyers and others beholden to the downtown establishment, particularly developers. This group recommended that the auditor be appointed by the city manager, who under the strong mayor concept is the mayor. Citizens vote on that and other matters June 3. Councilmember Donna Frye, who has been fighting for an independent auditor for five years, points out that former auditor John Torell lasted only two years because Sanders wanted him to play politics instead of mind the books. Both Frye and Torell have signed the ballot argument against the mayor's proposal, Prop C, on the ballot. They note that the mayor wants to appoint the person who audits the city departments the mayor himself manages. "Keep the fox out of the henhouse," they say. Also, the ad hoc committee notes in its report, "The committee asked for the documentation available for the processes used to manage the city finances and to produce the [Comprehensive Annual Financial Report] and found out these did not exist and/or were not available. It is virtually impossible to have any assurance of financial integrity without documentation of the financial processes." Says Frye, "The internal controls are inadequate to insure that the information is free from material misstatements. That is a big concern." Despite the bad internal controls, Sanders wants to appoint the person who audits him.