Modesto starts talking about its next city auditor, nearly 3 years after last one left
The Modesto City Council has started talking about filling the position of city auditor, nearly three years after the last one left under a cloud roughly eight months after the council had hired her.
The seven-member council met in closed session last week to discuss the appointment of an interim city auditor. There was no reportable action from the meeting.
Mayor Sue Zwahlen said she asked the item be placed on the agenda so she and the other council members could start discussing how they want to fill the position.
Zwahlen — who was elected mayor in a February runoff election and is among the four new members on the council — said filling the position is a top priority for her. “From Day 1,” she said. “It’s a charter officer. To me, it’s important.”
That is why she is considering filling the position on an interim basis ahead of potential reforms to the job.
The City Council’s Charter Review Committee is recommending the job’s qualifications be expanded and the job have more protection. Currently, the auditor must be a certified public accountant or certified internal auditor, and the auditor can be dismissed with four council votes.
The committee recommends that in order to increase the number of candidates, the job’s qualifications be expanded to include chartered accountant or a candidate with an “advanced degree and at least five years of experience in governmental auditing, evaluation or analysis.”
The committee also recommends that it take five council votes to fire an auditor and that within 30 days of the position being vacant, the mayor start the recruitment by recommending a recruitment firm or process.
These changes require amending the city charter, which requires voter approval. The City Council is expected to have workshops to discuss these changes, including which ones to put on the November 2022 ballot.
Zwahlen said the first workshop could take place in late November. She said that will be an opportunity for council and charter review members as well as the public to discuss the position and the Charter Review Committee’s recommendations.
Four charter officers
Zwahlen said she also intends for the City Council to hold more closed session discussions about filling the position.
The auditor is one of Modesto’s four charter officers. The others are city attorney, city clerk and city manager. These are the only city employees who report directly to the City Council, which hires and fires them.
The city auditor performs financial and performance audits and carries out other duties to ensure the city is operating efficiently. The auditor can be the bearer of bad news, but with the goal of improving the city.
Besides the city auditor, Modesto contracts with CPA firms to audit its financial statements.
A city auditor’s tasks can include reviewing a city’s employee travel policy to ensure it has enough checks and balances, is not being abused and the tax dollars are being spent efficiently.
A 2008 amendment to the city charter created the position.
But Modesto has only had two in-house city auditors. The council in 2010 fired the city’s first auditor after 18 months for failing to meet its expectations in uncovering inefficiencies in city operations.
Political fight over last auditor
Modesto then used the Seattle-based consulting firm Moss Adams to carry out the duties of city auditor for several years. But critics contended the consultant did not have the independence needed to be a true watchdog.
The council in April 2018 hired Monica Houston as Modesto’s second in-house city auditor. But in November of that year, a divided council voted to pay her a $225,000 settlement to end her employment. The severance agreement included a provision that Houston and the city not disparage each other.
Houston came to Modesto to uncover inefficiencies in city operations. But she became the focus of a political fight among council members who scrutinized her motives or defended her qualifications and experience.
Some claimed Houston, who is Black, was subject to harassment, retaliation and even racism. City officials vehemently denied any racial motivation in a series of job performance evaluations for Houston.
Some council members claimed Houston attempted to overstep her authority and got caught up in then-Mayor Ted Brandvold’s attempt to increase his control over city government.
This story was originally published September 20, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
