There is a risk an incompetent City Treasurer will be elected to manage twenty-five employees. As this financial management executive cannot be easily discharged, it can be a long four years. Presently the city is in capable hands. But who knows about the future? The Charter qualification criterion is sorely inadequate for the high-level job duties.
It Could Happen
A resident might be elected by running a negative campaign, attacking an opponent’s character without any conclusive evidence, as in the last election. Had that election’s outcome been different, the victor would directly supervise the loser, the Deputy City Treasurer. That could have
been a disaster.
This selection method is expensive, factoring in the costs of the Deputy position, currently about $110,000 annually. That position’s purpose is to protect the city if citizen treasurer is a lemon.
Have we forgotten the conflicts between the previous City Treasurer and City Council? Egos played a role. Such politics took the City Treasurer’s focus away from financial and administrative matters, and that was bad for the city. This led him to not seeking a second term, and that was good only if a better City Treasurer followed him.
Do we ignore the fact that there was no love lost between the previous City Treasurer and a previous Controller? They did not work well together, and that was bad for the city.
There is confusion all around as the Controller is not associated with accounting and financial reporting as the title suggests. It is actually responsible for budgeting, purchasing and stores. How did the city get that title so wrong?
Presently, issues between the City Treasurer and the Controller take too long to resolve even with a good working relationship. While preparing cash flow forecasts, a question arose regarding how much actual cash the Redevelopment Agency had. This led to several Council members refusing to approve disbursements of the Agency. All this went on for months. It wasted staff’s time. It could have been resolved rather quickly if the city had a Finance Director.
How to Fix the Problem
No one has an insightful understanding of the big financial picture, and this can happen only by overseeing the current functions of the City Treasurer and Controller. This person is called Finance Director, and can only occur if Measure V passes on April 11, the City Council approves the position, and a qualified professional hired.
Responsibilities to collect millions of dollars of grant monies are
scattered among the operating departments and City Treasurer Office. Last year a grantor agency contacted us, stating that over a million dollars of one operating department’s many incomplete invoices covering many years remained unpaid. The missing information was provided and money collected. But the city lost the interest revenue it could have earned.
The city may be in poor financial health someday. Current year revenues will be short about a million dollars compared to budget estimates. The Self Insurance Fund is underfunded by over $13 million. This will materially adversely impact the General Fund that must play catch-up paying into the fund. General Fund cash is loaned without earning interest to other cash poor funds. The Bus and Refuse Funds have issues. Healthcare and pension costs escalate. The state may take money. We need an effective financial management team.
One time last year, Personnel staff failed to schedule job candidates and a panel of their interviewers from other agencies for the same day. That’s embarrassing.
A Record of Failure
The city has been unsuccessful recruiting a Personnel Director for too many years because there is no city- wide chain of command assuring the position can be effective. Temporary people lead this division, and that is bad over the long term.
I’ve used my allotted words, and unfortunately there are more examples.
The proposed charter may not be satisfactory to everyone given that it’s an all or nothing vote. Yet it is a big improvement, and it can always be amended.
Please vote for Measure V on April 11, and spread the word.
Robert Tompkins, CPA, MPA can be contacted at hopeusa@earthlink.net
