The price of making errors is high. Miscalculations in the arbitrage area can be very costly. A qualified opinion on the annual financial audit can cost millions in additional interest payments on a large bond issue.
Can we always be assured that city finance staff, dispersed in three different areas, with no common leadership, will always communicate and ensure nothing falls between the cracks? The city has excellent finance staff, but they won’t be with us forever.
Let us talk about checks and balances. Is this just a nice concept or something that is put to work? When was the last time the budget, treasury ad accounting staffs really had strong differences of opinion on a major financial issue?
The seal of approval from the electorate does not, unfortunately, guarantee the official will be honest, nor does it guarantee a high level of professionalism. In fact, it doesn’t even guarantee a swift exit if scandal does indeed occur.
Another Way to Save Money
While on the subject of checks, let’s not lose sight of the close to $100,000 in salary, benefits and expenses that can be saved through the proposed consolidation. That size of check certainly can aid in balancing the city budget.
It’s this kind of hands-off approach that led the national economy to where it is today.
Hands off all too easily can lead to eyes off.
President-elect Clinton is forming an Economic Security Council to keep his eyes on the ball.
There are three styles of management — the Let It Happen style, the Watch It Happen style and the Make It Happen style. Which will Culver City choose?
Some have suggested the (consolidation) proposal is ill-conceived because the current system works. How do we know? Does the absence of scandal suggest this?
Does the exemplary performance, which could be achieved by an elected or appointed official, prove this? These could be indicators things are okay. But it begs the question whether the current system is best.
Take customer service. How do ordinary citizens known whom to call when they have finance questions? I know all the actors, and I still have to think about it a few seconds before placing a call.
Consolidation should not be seen as a dirty word, even if it follows on the heels of the merger/acquisition debacles of the 1980s.
It can provide economies of scale, easier communication links and cross-training possibilities.
Postscript
Obviously today I do hold a personal stake and interest in the charter proposal. Now have twenty-five years of finance experience. So why am I for it?
In a nutshell: With professional positions — and this is what the City Treasurer is, a working position and not a figurehead or policy wonk — I do not necessarily know whether I will be working in City Hall two days from tomorrow, two years from tomorrow or ten years from tomorrow. I do plan to complete my term as a commitment to the electorate.
However, it is very likely, given my family situation, that I will be living in Culver City ten-plus years from now. Therefore I have a heavy stake in us having the best structure that we can get for the future.
The field of finance has grown even more complex since 1992. It is not time for Amateur Hour or on-the-job training. The current charter would allow anyone with two semesters of junior college-level accounting classes to fill the City Treasurer’s position via election and become responsible for all of the city’s funds and financial reporting. Let there be no mistake. Despite the budget person holding the inappropriate title of City Controller, which everyone in the field of finance knows is responsible for financial reporting and accounting, all of that work was assigned by charter to the City Treasurer in 1996.
Put another way, we all recognize the importance of swift, accurate communication in public safety. It is why we spend millions on 9-1-1 systems and such. So why isn’t it equally important in finance? I contend that it is just as important in finance. Our finance family is broken apart. We need to be put back together again. The cross talk might occasionally cause quarrels — but more productive ones than we have now.
