It's been a busy time since I took office as your new City Auditor. I am honored to serve the residents of Berkeley and bring my long time experience as a federal government auditor to this position. In the past few months, I and my team have focused on ensuring transparency and accountability through the following:
Passed Audit Review: On my first day in the office, we met with auditors from the Association of Local Government Auditors who reviewed our processes and concluded our office met auditing standards. See City Auditor's Office 2018 Peer Review Results. Every 3 years, government audit offices need to be reviewed by other auditors to ensure compliance.
Defined Role of Auditor: My office manages audits on the performance of the city and coordinates payroll for staff. I have been working with the City Manager, Department Heads, and staff to understand current projects and future needs. One thing my office will be adding going forward is a systematic review of payments leaving the city on a regular basis, including contracts. On the payroll side, I am working with the City Manager's Office who is leading the implementation to modernize the payroll system. Based on community and other input, we are in the process of developing our audit plan for the coming year.
Focused on 100+ Outstanding Audit Recommendations: Every audit report from this office yields audit findings and related recommendations aimed at improving city services and functions. While many recommendations have been implemented over the years, there are over 100 outstanding recommendations that have yet to be implemented. Some of these recommendations have fiscal implications and could increase city revenues or cut costs. To promote transparency, I have put these all on our website in both summary (Audit Recommendations Summary) and complete (Open Audit Recommendations) form, brought them to the attention of the City Manager and City Council, and the item was discussed at the Feb. 26 City Council meeting. City staff have a lot of demands and I understand these cannot all be implemented at once, so I am in the process of working with the City Manager and Department Heads to create a schedule for implementation that prioritizes recommendations that yield revenue or have more significant impacts. For further coverage, see "Berkeley city auditor considers audit recommendations that could save thousands of dollars".
Encouraged Cost Transparency in Council Items: Our previous audit on code enforcement revealed that when new codes are passed, without new staff to enforce codes, it is difficult to know what to prioritize. See Code Enforcement Resources Significantly Constrained and Improvements Needed in Case Management and Oversight. After calling attention to this issue, the Council adopted guidance to include operational and opportunity costs as part of ordinances. This is important so that City Council has full information when making decisions about whether to adopt new regulations, both about the cost of implementation and how enforcement of the new code will impact existing operations.
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UPCOMING ITEMS
Current Audits: We are busy working on a variety of audits that evaluate the performance of city programs and services across a variety of departments. These audits include:
9-11 and dispatch calls in the Communications Center
fire inspections program
fleet or vehicle replacement
library tax fund non-personnel expenditures
Upcoming Budget Process: City Council adopted policy subcommittees to discuss items prior to consideration by the full Council. For those interested, Budget and Finance Subcommittee meeting will begin to discuss the budget process on Thursday, March 28 at 2pm.
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Thank you for your continued support for our work to help Berkeley deliver services in a more efficient, effective, and equitable way. Please contact me at[email protected]or at 981-6750 with your questions or comments. I'm always happy to hear from folks who want to get more involved. I look forward to hearing from you.
