For the record, I am not a resident of Culver City nor will I be a future candidate for Culver City citizen treasurer nor professional finance director.
I am writing as I see it: City Hall is broke.
First, there is lack of knowing on a monthly basis all of the monies owed to the city. Oh no, that forgotten million dollars. That’s frustrating to accounting professionals, knowing their hands are tied by the present City Charter. Read more about this and other examples in another article located in this Thefrontpageonline.com edition.
A respected insider described City Hall as “Alice in Wonderland.” Can it be something like this? City Council’s oversight of the city’s financial health was weakened by not receiving monthly financial reports from the City Treasurer’s Office over about one and a half years. It appears Council members did not get any reports for the accounting months of November, 2003, through at least April, 2005; a period overlapping City Treasurer terms as the last election was in April, 2004.
It Was My Job
It turns out it was my responsibility to prepare the reports after being temporarily assigned as Accounting Manager in late April, 2004, and again after my regular appointment in December, 2004. I was not aware of these reports until June, 2005, as there was no discussion, job specs, or direction given to me regarding this.
My supervisor, the Deputy City Treasurer, was also temporary. She said she first learned about the reports from a Council member that month. The present City Treasurer did not have report responsibility in her previous City Hall position as Deputy City Treasurer.
What about those two staff members familiar with the reports before November, 2003? One was assigned to yet another temporary position in another division and kept busy mastering that job. The other left the city, disagreeing with the prior City Treasurer’s reorganization efforts to rotate managers among three divisions. That plan was only partly implemented. The manager who rotated into one of the two Accounting Divisions was not trained, educated, nor had work experience as an accountant. hat is bizarre as governmental accounting is highly technical, interconnected and complicated. She has since left the city.
In addition the previous City Treasurer transferred the Deputy City Treasurer to one of the two Accounting Manager positions. Thus for a time, before I became Manager, there were two Accounting Managers who were not accountants. Alice in Wonderland bizarre!
Later in 2004, the Civil Service Commission judged in the Deputy City Treasurer’s favor against the previous City Treasurer regarding this and other improprieties.
All of this had a domino effect that caused staff turnover, loss of institutional memory and the lack of monthly council financial reports. This weakened the financial oversight by the City Council.
It Could Happen Again
I do not know if it also caused financial damage, but I am confident it can happen again in the
next twenty-five years.
The prior citizen treasurer contributed to ChAOs in this ChiefAdministrative Officer form of government. In my opinion a competent City Manager or Finance Director supervising the City Treasurer would not have allowed rotation of managers or allowed anyone to head a division without appropriate technical qualifications or relevant experiences.
This city needs a professional finance team to assist the volunteer part time City Council; a team led by a Finance Director reporting to a City Manager, as in most other cities of the type.
This city is at risk of something bad happening if the wrong person is selected City Treasurer.
Proper oversight of this important financial management function is more likely in a City Manager form of government with a better chain of command system than presently in City Hall.
Please do not allow this chaotic CAO form of government to go on another generation or two, wasting employees’ time and taxpayers’ monies. The proposed charter may not be satisfactory to everyone given it’s an all or nothing vote. Yet it is a big improvement and can always be amended.
Robert Tompkins, CPA, MPA, welcomes contact at hopeusa@earthlink.net