City Auditor’s work won’t be as publicized
The investigative work of Richmond City Auditor Umesh V. Dalal isn't as newsworthy as it used to be -- at least in the minds of city officials.
The City Council's office has stopped publicizing the release of auditor's reports that routinely point out waste and inefficiencies, as well as potential savings, at City Hall.
Officials said they're mirroring the practices of other local governments -- not downplaying the reports, which continue to be posted on the city's Web site for anyone who happens to be checking.
"When was the last time you saw a press release on an audit in Chesterfield or Henrico?" Council President Kathy C. Graziano said. "We're trying to be more in line with other localities in releasing audits."
"It's not necessary to do," said Council Chief of Staff Daisy E. Weaver.
But Silver Persinger, a resident who encourages public oversight and participation in city government, blasted the change. "What a way to shut down open government," he said.
The news releases evaporated in June after Dalal's office released a memo on the results of an investigation in the Richmond school system.
The review found that a schools employee had been overpaid by about $2,000 based on records falsified by his supervisor, with whom he had a personal relationship and later married. School officials were unable to say last week whether the money had been repaid.
E-mails obtained under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act show that some officials were surprised and bristled that a news release was issued with the memo. Unlike other auditor reports, the memo is not posted on the office's Web site.
After the memo was sent out in June, Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson asked Dalal about his office's release policy. He responded by saying federally accepted auditing standards call for results to be made available to the public. To ensure transparency, they are also posted on the Web site and released to the media unless prohibited by law, he said.
Weaver followed up, noting that the auditing standards "do not require media notices but simply public availability of information."
She suggested that officials had room to craft their own policy and added, "The advance media advisories still seem inflammatory to many."
Then-Mayor L. Douglas Wilder thought so.
He called Dalal a "political lapdog" after a series of stinging audits last year. At the time, the race for mayor was under way with then-City Council President William J. Pantele squaring off against then-Del. Dwight C. Jones and three other candidates. Dalal was in the crowd when Pantele announced his campaign.
Jones won the election and, soon after taking office in January, pledged to work with the auditor's office to bring efficiencies to the city government. Tammy D. Hawley, Jones' press secretary, said the administration has not objected to news releases being issued but said it has asked to receive copies of auditor reports before they're released publicly.
The council's Governmental Operations Standing Committee has reviewed draft guidelines for the release of reports by the auditor's office and its inspector-general division.
The proposed policy includes a protocol for distribution of early versions of reports to administration officials but says the office shall not send copies of reports to the media and shall not engage in communication with the media. It further says that if members of the media request a copy of a report they should be advised to download from the Web site or to pick up a copy from the auditor's office.
"The City Auditor shall answer media inquiries seeking further clarification or understanding on the reported findings and recommendations," the draft policy says.
The lower profile for the auditor's office comes as city officials are debating whether the council, which currently appoints the city auditor, should cede some of that control to the mayor. It also comes as Dalal's office has more than 10 audits either under way or pending release.
In an interview, Dalal said he does not believe his work is being downplayed.
On whether to issue releases on audit reports, "this is City Council and the city administration's call," he said.
Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or
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Reader Reactions
Well, the City Auditor has posted three reports on his website…And, in accordance with the “new” policy, no one knows about the findings which are significant if waste and inefficiency are points of concern to City taxpayers who want and demand accountability and lean/mean government. Judging from the preceding comments, we can confidently assert that “we told you so!“
This is not about bashing one administration or another—it’s about accountability and fixing the problems that still exist and keep cropping up. Instead of muzzling the watchdogs and acting like “hear-no-evil-see-no-evil-speak-no-evil”, our City leaders should stop acting like stereotypical politicians who “glad-hand” us and utter platitudes.
Acknowledge the problems and stop trying to outsmart us or deceive us—it isn’t working!! Read the reports, and take action! Do something!!
Shame on Kathy Graziano and her alter ego David Hathcock. The lame brained notion that Richmond should model itself after Chesterfield is preposterous. Chesterfield has no history of corruption. Richmond does.
Now enter Ellen Robertson who is so close to the mayor that it has become sickening. Robertson who fancies herself as the next Council president, along with Graziano, has misunderstood the intended role of council. Councilpersons are elected by the people, in part, to be the the watchdog and protector of the citizens’ purse.
Instead Graziano, Roberston and Hathcock, see themselves as allies and confidants of the Mayor. All of it is sick and a bit sleazy.
Richmond has a bicameral form of government. The Mayor’s roles and responsibilities are intentionally separate from Council. The reason: so that each body can check the power of the other in order to prevent abuse.
Are Graziano and Robertson so smug or so forgetful that they can’t remember Richmond’s recent past? Here’s a refresher course for their benefit. Please recall Gwen Hedgepath, Saad ElAmin, Chuck Richardson, Leonidas Young, Joel Harris, and oh yes, I almost forgot that young man who stole a million dollars from the city government under the failed watch of Calvin Jamison, by making up phony invoices.
So yes Ms. Graziano and Robertson, Richmond is different from Chesterfiels - way different. With the full knowledge of the band of crooks and thieves who are standing ready to rip off the citizens, you bet we need all the daylight we can afford.
Simply stated more daylight makes good government and less daylight creates the opposite.
Is it not ironic that our Council President, and our chair of the Finance Committee are standing squarely in the muck. The muck here, is their clumsy attempt to hide the truth from the very citizens who elected them.
Citizens deserve the full truth, including that which sounds good and that which does not. City Council, your mandate is to get back to the jobs to which your were elected, and if you can’t, resignation might be your best option.
With the election of a new mayor, there was hope that government would become more transparent. That has not occurred, and this report is the just the latest example of collusion between Council and the Mayor to withhold information or obstruct efforts to obtain information to which taxpayers are entitled.
Taxpayers should not be expected to have a home computer and search the Internet in order to obtain information contained in the final reports of City Audits. That information should be automatically made available to the local media as soon as the report is released.
Any City Resident who believes City Officials are supportive of open government - both good and bad news - is seriously deluded. The arrogance of Council and the Administration in attempting to avoid publication of final audit reports is distressing, but not surprising.
Ineptitude at City Council should hardly be surprising. Open government and transparency are best practices in the field of government. It leads to accountability. When the public can see how decisions are made, they can understand why decisions were made and WHO is accountable for the decisions made.
I asked Council members earlier in the year if they supported open government and many of them did not seem familiar with the concept, though they said they said they supported it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5TkjaZULWY&feature=player_embedded
Since when should our government seek to emulate the government of Chesterfield and Henrico.
Especially, when what you seek to emulate is keeping information secret. The City Auditor works for the citizens of Richmond; not the City Council or the Mayor.
The news coverage of city government is already apathetic. Press releases from the Auditor’s Office help inform the public. It cost relatively nothing for the auditor’s office to email press releases and even to hold a press conference to allow the City Auditor to explain the findings to the media, who need all the help they can get. City Council members should also try to attend City Auditor Press Conferences, so they will know the questions from the media and know more directly the results of Audit Reports.
This article comes on the heels of tomorrow’s interviews with appointees for the GRTC Transit System Board. See the TimesDispatch article, “GRTC board appointments a point of contention” Oct. 2, 2009, http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/article/GRTC02_20091001-221409/296919/
Council has said it would be a closed door session on Monday Oct. 5, 2009 from 8 AM to 10:30 AM—though I can’t understand the grounds for closing the meeting to the public. All candidates have received the questions in advance. This is not a discussion of discipline, legal issues, or discussion about employment.
This is about appointing members to a public board that deals with the City’s bus system and future development of a light rail system. The term is for one year.
What are you afraid of City Council? People deserve to know what you are doing on our behalf and in our names. You represent us and we deserve to know how and why you make decisions. This is know as Open Government.
This is not terribly surprising considering how much bad news comes out of the auditor’s office. I’m constantly puzzled that there’s never any follow-up to these damning reports. Is anything ever actually done to correct the problems? I can’t help but think that less publicity will make it even less likely that anything will be done to clean things up.
“When was the last time you saw a press release on an audit in Chesterfield or Henrico?“ Council President Kathy C. Graziano
This thought didn’t occur to Graziano when council was going out of their way to embarrass Wilder by releasing reports to the press prior to the administration receiving them. At some point it may occur to Richmonders the problem sits in city council chambers - there is where the incompetence and corruption lies. Jones is a puppet who is doing councils bidding. We are right back where we were prior to mayoral form of government, except without a city manager to get something done.
Funny how this was done right as they released the report on the Richmond DPU facility maintenance operations. The review found that:
• The Division has not identified the needs of the utilities it serves. The Operations
Manager could not produce any annual or monthly plans for preventive and other
maintenance needs. Without planning, it may not be possible to adequately estimate
the personnel and other resources needs. The Division did not have clearly defined
goals and objectives. It is not clear what level of work the Division was expected to
perform.
• The Division has not established performance standards. Performance standards
provide management with effective tools for scheduling work, managing the
Division’s workload and assuring adequate operational efficiency.
• The Operations Manager and the Division Supervisor were unable to quantify work
tasks performed in any areas during FY 2007. In addition, there were no manual or
computerized records maintained to document the calls/requests received from the
various utilities.
Description of Cost Amount
Grounds Maintenance $ 263,687
Building Maintenance $1,215,120
[iii]
900 East Broad Street, Room 806 * Richmond, VA 23219 * 804.646-5616 * Fax 804.646.2230 * http://www.richmondgov.com
• Auditors were informed that work orders were not generated for requests received.
Although they have access to a computerized work order system, the Division does
not use it. Without this information, it is impossible to manage the operation of the
Division. Lacking information related to actual workloads, it is not possible to
evaluate if staff time is effectively being used. In addition, the Division is not in a
position to evaluate the cost effectiveness of operations. Comparison to the
International Facility Management Association (IFMA) published standards for
facilities maintenance for public utilities revealed that the Division could be
overspending up to $460,000 in its operations.
• The volume of work processed by this Division may not justify three administrative
positions. A detailed study of the administrative workload is necessary. The staff
position(s) considered to be excessive could be transferred elsewhere in the City or
eliminated. This could result in a productivity improvement up to $114,790.
I am not surprised by this move. City Council curtails the release of information regarding audits. Looks like someone is worried about reports of waste and inefficiency. Councilperson Robertson seems to be the ‘squeaky wheel’ here. Sure, she wants to prevent any audit reports on city council’s waste and inefficiency; being the queen of ‘studies’ or ‘focus groups’ who gobble up the free lunches and waste taxpayer dollars while accomplishing nothing.
Although Silver Persinger and I usually stand on opposite sides of the street when it comes to rallies or other events, I find myself aligned with him on this one. Now is not the time to close the openness of city government. There is a certain level of mistrust that demands an open view of city government. In theory, the city should be like the surrounding counties in making information available, but given the city’s track record of fraud, waste and inefficiency, an enhanced level of transparency should be in place. City citizens just do not trust city government.
As a 3rd district resident, I am ashamed that the city council is shutting down the city auditor’s press releases, especially when the local press is as slack as they are.
The city does want to “hide” their shortcomings, BUT, let’s see the other local governments at least match the web postings. Lots a talk of “open government” but not lots of action.
This is one of those inside baseball stories. Newsrooms are so short-staffed they depend more than ever on press releases. The TD, which has never been known for shoe-leather reporting, has a vested interest in making sure no one curtails their press releases.
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