Jenny Wong, City Auditor
Promoting transparency and accountability in Berkeley government.
Audit News
from the City Auditor
March 2020
Shelter In Place and Other COVID-19 Information
Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin, City of Berkeley Health Officer Dr. Lisa Hernandez and City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley will hold a Virtual Town Hall via ZOOM Video Conferencing this Saturday, March 28th noon to 2pm, to answer your questions about the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on the City of Berkeley and the City’s response.

Attendees will be able to submit questions in advance by emailing their questions to info@berkeleyrelieffund.org.
You may also ask a question by joining the Zoom meeting - https://zoom.us/j/490093080?pwd=c0dJeHM0NmZobjVWbWRCWGhYMnhRQT09
or via telephone by calling 1 (669) 900-6833 with meeting ID: 490 093 080. 
Shelter In Place and Other COVID-19 Information
Please continue to follow the  Shelter in Place Order . Only leave your home for essentials. If you are in a higher risk category due to age or underlying health conditions, make arrangements for your food and medicines to be delivered. If you must go out, observe the social distancing standard of 6 feet of separation. The stricter we are about following the Shelter in Place guidelines, the better we will be at flattening the curve and slowing down the spread of the virus.

On Tuesday, March 17 Berkeley City Council approved $3 million for emergency relief grants to small businesses, nonprofit arts organizations, and residential tenants, that are hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a tax -exempt special fund which can accept private donations. To receive updated information, go to  Berkeley Relief Fund.

Please check out the City of Berkeley’s COVID-19 webpage for the latest information, including FAQs, news, and data on the number of confirmed cases in Berkeley. You can check daily for updated information.
BUSD School Closure Extended Through May 1
In keeping with the Alameda County Public Health Department, the Berkeley Unified School District announced that schools will remain closed until May 1, 2020. The school closure date will impact all public schools throughout Alameda County.
The 2020 Census Is As Important As Ever
Your response matters. Census results help determine how billions of dollars in federal funding flow into states and communities each year.

Health clinics. Fire departments. Schools. Even roads and highways. The census can shape many different aspects of your community.

Take 10 minutes to make a difference for 10 years. Go to
Re-assessing Audit Work
During this time under a declared emergency due to COVID-19, our office is re-assessing our audit work. We are pausing some of our audits to allow for essential city staff to respond to the current public health crisis before continuing our audit work. In an emergency situation, city workers can be designated as disaster workers. To help the City of Berkeley, we currently have audit staff working at the Emergency Operations Center. I want to thank the City for activating the Emergency Operations Center back in January to start the important planning needed to respond to this crisis.
 
We are also pivoting to conduct research on high-level economic impacts on city revenues and expenditures. The purpose of this information is to help city management and City Council develop a coordinated strategy to manage resources and provide needed services during and after this pandemic. Working collaboratively with city staff, we will share this information report in the near future.
Berkeley City Auditor | Website