Monthly Archives: December 2014

Is the City Controller AWOL?

For once a short article. Just asking a question: what happened to the Controller’s oversight duty?

Plans since Ron Green took over as the City Controller (remember, FY ends June 30 of the stated year):
FY2011 Plan: 14 audits planned.
FY2012 Plan: 8 audits + 2 carried over from prior year.
FY2013 Plan: 6 audits + 5 carried over, and three “alternates.”
FY2014 Plan: 5 audits + 6 carried over, and four alternates.
FY2015 plan: 5 audits + + carried over, and six alternates

It’s not unusual to have audits carry over — about 1/4 of each year’s total below is carried over, at least until 2010. Actual completions, going back before the Annise Parker era:
FY2002: 22 audits
FY2003: 26 audits
FY2004: 41 audits
FY2005: 37 audits
FY2006: 7 audits
FY2007: 14 audits
FY2008: 9 audits
FY2009: 29 audits
FY2010: 15 audits
FY2011: 6 audits
FY2012: 11 audits
FY2013: 9 audits
FY2014: 6 audits
FY2015(to date): 2 audits

The Controller’s job is to backstop the mayor and make sure that everything’s on the up-and-up financially. Well, that’s terribly oversimplified, but it seems obvious that there’s been a downward trend in attention to this duty. It’s enough to make you wonder why Bob Lemer, Bill King, and Bill Frazer are upset with the Controller’s office. Now my question is this… how come the Chronicle dumps news like this on the “back pages” of their website? I mean, just how important is the best lip colors of 2014?

My take on it in 2009.

Late Fee Follies (updated)

In the earlier article today, I referenced $25 million in overcharges. So how did the City manage that trick? Well, stupidity and arrogance, of course.

Back in 2012-2013, the City Controller’s (Ron Green’s) office did an audit of UCS’s Water Meters and Transmitters. Seeing as they’re not particularly technically adept, it was really an audit of policies and procedures, not the mechanicals, but it was prompted by years of complaints by the customers of inaccurate meters. (They’re not. As I’ve said for years, the problems are with the transmitters, and, as will be obvious here, the business processes.) The summary of issues found reads as follows:

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