City agencies’ efficiency
is auditor’s first task
The City Council is about to hand the new city auditor his first assignment.
A resolution introduced Thursday requests "a review of the economy and efficiency of the activities" performed by eight departments: Budget and Fiscal Services, Customer Services, Design and Construction, Enterprise Services, Facility Maintenance, Parks and Recreation, Planning and Permitting, and Transportation Services.
The audit would focus on activities paid for by general and highway funds and is due back to the Council on March 1.
Council Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi, one of six Council members who introduced the resolution, said she hopes the review will help the Council with its budget deliberations next spring -- "just to get us some background information to see perhaps if we can streamline government."
"Perhaps it is already, as they say, cut to the bone," Kobayashi said. "We just want to know before the next budget cycle starts again. Let's look at how we can make government more efficient before we start raising taxes again."
City auditor Les Tanaka, who assumed the newly created role July 1, said yesterday that he had not seen the resolution yet, but from what he was told, the parameters of the audit may be too broad and he may ask the Council to narrow the focus. The Council's Budget Committee is slated to hear the resolution on July 23.
"I'm anxious to get started," Tanaka said about his first assignment.
Kobayashi acknowledged that task may be large.
"He may not have it completed," she said. "At least, I think, a great portion of it will certainly help us. At least we'll know where to look."
Kobayashi said she hopes the review will help decide the city's core functions.
"What services must we provide, and what can we put off until the economy is better?" she said.
Mayor Jeremy Harris and some members of the Council were locked in a war of words during the past budget season, and the mayor said he hopes politics is not part of the review.
"We are looking forward to working with the city auditor as we continue to search for ways to improve city services," Harris said in a written statement. "We are hopeful that during this process, the Auditor's Office will not be used as a political tool."
City public health and safety agencies like police, fire, ambulance and environmental services are not being audited, but that could change.
"We already know they're core services, so, if need be, we can look there later," Kobayashi said.