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Police Injuries, Animal Shelter Overtime, and Auditor's Office Goals
The League of Women Voters recently asked for my top three goals for the Auditor's Office and I replied:
- Issue compelling, engaging, persuasive reports with recommendations that result in more effective, efficient, equitable service
- Safeguard City assets and strengthen transparency and public trust and engagement, and
- Recruit future performance auditors with enthusiasm, strong analytical skills and superlative communications skills to carry on and improve the work of the Office.
Two reports go to Council on October 28:
In our continuing efforts to strengthen citywide policies and practices, we used information from these two audits to develop global recommendations for making citywide changes. As in other recent audits, we recommend improved monitoring, assessment, and communications, and better use of existing data to improve performance and avoid unnecessary costs. The result? More effective and efficient service.
We're also working on a contracts audit and an audit of refuse billing. We will look at the risk of starting work before executing the contract. Our audit of refuse billing will focus on the complex coordination of work in different divisions needed to match service delivery with billing.
Because of community concerns about equity in City hiring and promotions, our 2015 audit plan includes a requested audit of Human Resources' application of the merit system hiring process and an evaluation of adherence to equal employment opportunity policies. The City Manager issued a report to Council on October 7 about the community concerns and the City's plans to address them. |
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Berkeley Audit Manager Now Palo Alto City Auditor; Senior Auditor Recruitment Opens Soon.
Harriet Richardson, our Audit Manager for the past three years, has accepted the position of Palo Alto City Auditor. A competitive open recruitment determined that the most qualified applicant for Audit Manager was our own Senior Auditor, Claudette Biemeret, who is now Audit Manager. We will soon be recruiting for a new Senior Auditor.
City Steps Up to Improve Accountability for Effectiveness of Agency Service Delivery
Fourteen years ago, our office issued a survey of City monitoring of community agency contracts, and an audit of agency job training contracts, in response to Council's question about how many people were still employed two years after receiving the training.
One advantage of having an in-house performance audit function is that we can track the progress the City makes over the years in not only implementing our recommendations, but improving upon them. The September 30 Report to Council from the City Manager shows innovative and comprehensive strategies and a strong commitment to holding community agencies accountable for results in addressing the problems of homelessness.
In looking at our audits from fourteen years ago, I can also see changes that our office has made in how we approach performance auditing and how we communicate results. We have worked to increase the citywide impact of each report, and to write more engaging reports that invite readers to read more and persuade departments to implement our recommendations and continue to improve city services. |
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Ask us a question - send us advice
Thank you for your continued support for our work to help Berkeley deliver services in a more efficient, effective, and equitable way. Please contact me at ahogan@ci.berkeley.ca.us (or at 981-6750) with your questions, comments, and ideas for the audit plan. I'm always happy to hear from folks who want to get more involved, and especially from anyone considering a career as a performance auditor. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Ann-Marie Hogan, City Auditor
City of Berkeley |
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