OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Audit Committee Meeting Summary – June 12, 2019

Audit Committee — Wednesday, June 12, 2019
BodySan Diego, California
SessionAudit Committee
DateWednesday, June 12, 2019
StatusFILED
Video Record
Meeting Thumbnail
⇩ GET FROM SOURCE

STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE

Transcript — Verbatim
0:58

Good morning, everyone.

1:01

Welcome to June 12, 2019 meeting of our audit committee.

1:05

With us today, we have Vice Chair, Councilmember Jen Campbell.

1:10

Committee members Spencer and Valdivia.

1:14

Taking Tom's seat.

1:15

I see Mr.

1:16

Valdivia.

1:17

And we have our newest member, Mr.

1:19

Stuart Halpern.

1:20

Welcome, sir.

1:23

Anything you want to say and to introduce yourself to the rest of the committee and the staff?

1:30

Nothing other than I'm honored to have the opportunity to serve, and I look forward to working with you all.

1:34

You say that now.

1:38

Welcome aboard, sir.

1:39

Much appreciated.

1:41

We also have Kyle Elser, our interim city auditor, Lisa Byrne with the IBA, Scott Clark with the Department of Finance, Joan Dawson with the City Attorney's Office, and Dan Manley is still here as our audit committee consultant.

1:56

We need to start off the meeting with the approval of the minutes from May 22nd, 2019.

2:01

Do I have a motion?

2:03

Moved by Councilmember Campbell and second by Mr.

2:06

Valdivia.

2:07

All in favor?

2:08

Passes unanimously.

2:11

All right.

2:11

Non-agenda public comment comes up next.

2:14

We have one request for non-agenda public comment and Figgy.

2:20

Good morning.

2:20

You'll have three minutes.

2:22

First of all, thank you for the votes to add a position to the urban forestry program and also to uh restore the tree trimming.

2:29

That's exactly what we're talking about today.

2:31

Maybe this audit has influenced it.

2:34

And it's it's all being part of taking care of the trees that we have.

2:39

So I have a meeting at 10 o'clock and I have to leave here at 9.35 so I can bicycle over to it.

2:47

We couldn't change it.

2:47

It was a community forest advisory meeting, so I wanted to make sure that I covered some of this in case I'm not here.

2:52

However, the non-agenda public comment is that we are recruiting for board members for the community forest advisory board.

2:59

It's kind of got out of our um uh horizon, and that is that all the terms are co are expiring either December last year or December this year.

3:10

So each of you in your council districts hopefully will start looking for for people who can replace the really good people that we've had here.

3:17

There's only three eligible to be renewed, so we are looking at a turnover and that's gonna take the work of a lot of us.

3:24

Um on this technology report on on this report, it's an excellent collection of numbers.

3:32

Um it's what we've needed for to know what the backlog was from not having any staffing and and funding for a lot for a long time, and it feeds right into that tree bid that's gonna be um that's up for renewal now.

3:45

The big surprise for me is that it doesn't mention technology.

3:48

Technology is transforming urban forestry.

3:52

Every tree has a number or clip, and every time you go up to a tree or every time you order a group of trees to be to be pruned or or trimmed, that goes right into that uh into the base.

4:02

So hopefully that one of the recommendations that I would suggest that we add is that the that the performance analytics help the department figure out what the most current um technology or nearly current technology is for um tree inventories and tree conditions and tree care.

4:22

Um thank you for the uh voting the additional one if TE.

4:25

It is only a down payment.

4:27

The five-year action plan um has a a number of action items and and Brian has a really Brian Weiner, the city forester has a really good um uh status of those and we really when we look at it um cannot do quality work with the staff that we have.

4:44

So we'll continue to ask for additional um urban foresters, professionals.

4:49

He has some good tree trimmers, and then we will also hope that we will continue to to invest in the tree care and in the tree planting at the funding well contract levels that we have.

5:00

So again, thank you, and I apologize for switching this around, but I'll I'll stay as long as I can and thank you.

5:06

That's all right, Ann.

5:07

We are we're switching the schedule around on you too, so no problem speaking here because we're going to take item number two first.

5:16

Sorry.

5:19

Um but we do have you down as an in favor if we don't get to your item in time, and we know your passion about urban forestry and the maintenance of our trees.

5:29

Um that's the end of non-agenda public comment.

5:34

Well, do we have any uh committee members have any things that they'd like to discuss before we jump into it?

5:41

See none, anything from the mayor's office, IBA, City Attorney's Office.

5:45

Perfect.

5:46

Any requests for continuances on any of today's items?

5:50

Seeing none, we're gonna move right into our discussion agenda, and like I said, we're kind of changing up the order.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Customer Service██████████████████████████████████████38%
Urban Forestry Management███████████████████19%
Music Performance██████████10%
Procurement█████████9%
Public Utilities███████7%
Audit Follow-up███████7%
Procedural█████5%
Technology and Innovation█████5%
Summary of Proceedings

Audit Committee Meeting Summary – June 12, 2019

The San Diego City Audit Committee convened on June 12, 2019, under Chair Sherman, with Vice Chair Councilmember Campbell, members Spencer, Valdivia, and new member Halpern. The committee reviewed two performance audits (Public Utilities Department call center and urban forestry tree maintenance), discussed a monthly activity report, and heard non-agenda public comment. All votes were unanimous.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes (May 22, 2019): Moved by Councilmember Campbell, seconded by Mr. Valdivia, passed unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Anne Faggy (community representative): Expressed gratitude for adding a position to the urban forestry program and restoring tree trimming. Recruited board members for the Community Forest Advisory Board, noting many terms expiring. Praised the audit’s data but urged inclusion of technology recommendations for tree inventories and care. Stated the additional FTE is “only a down payment” and requested continued investment in urban foresters and tree care.

Discussion Items

Item 2: Performance Audit – PUD Customer Support Division (Call Center)

  • Auditor Presentation (Chine Pickney, Megan Garth): Found that PUD does not fully leverage its call center software (e.g., unused emergency messaging module), relies on institutional knowledge without adequate documentation, uses inconsistent performance metrics (e.g., calls-per-agent per day instead of first-call resolution), and 80% of calls require supervisor intervention. Staff morale is low due to lack of autonomy and training. Made six recommendations including hiring a subject matter expert, revising authorization levels, and improving training.
  • Management Response (Johnny Perkins, Matt Vesby, Jeremy Cluco, Craig Boyd): Agreed with all findings. Noted an internal assessment (since September 2018) led to a proposed reorganization (customer success, customer advocacy, workforce development). Target implementation dates: most by December 31, 2019, or January 31, 2020. Key changes include: new program coordinator, enhanced training (adding soft skills and water operations), and exploration of system upgrade or replacement.
  • Committee Questions:
    • Mr. Valdivia asked about system age (last major update ~2011) and turnover (25%). Auditors confirmed low morale.
    • Mr. Spencer queried whether a new system is still considered. Management confirmed ongoing analysis, but committed to implementing improvements by January 2020 regardless.
    • Councilmember Campbell noted anecdotal positive customer experience and asked about manager roles. Management identified Jennifer Manos as call center manager pending meet-and-confer.
    • Mr. Halpern asked about user-friendliness, staff empowerment, and tracking first-call resolution (FCR). Management stated that data integrity issues are being addressed, with baseline FCR tracking expected by early 2020.
    • Lisa Byrne (IBA) asked about customer satisfaction survey automation. Management confirmed plans to automate the survey.
  • Outcome: Motion to accept and forward to City Council passed unanimously.

Item 1: Performance Audit – Right-of-Way Tree Maintenance Program

  • Auditor Presentation (Chris Kime, Laura Reyes Cortez): Found that Transportation & Stormwater Department lacks a contract compliance plan for the tree maintenance contractor, with no formal inspection process. Over 14,000 palm trees billed at two rates without substantiating documentation. The sole KPI (44,000 trees trimmed/year) does not capture staff workload; service notifications increased 140% over two years (avg. 484/month in FY2019) while crew positions remained flat (7–8 occupied). Four recommendations: implement contract compliance plan, require palm tree documentation, track additional KPIs (e.g., response times by priority), and create reporting mechanisms. All were agreed to.
  • Committee Questions:
    • Mr. Valdivia asked about equipment (no crane, one bucket truck). Management confirmed need but noted budget constraints.
    • Mr. Spencer inquired how the city ensures contractor work meets specifications. Management acknowledged spot checks but no formal compliance plan. The city forester (Brian Widener) stated that one new arborist was added in the FY2020 budget.
    • Mr. Halpern asked about priority levels; management agreed the five-level system could be simplified (e.g., dropping medium priority).
    • Councilmember Campbell discussed her Environment Committee's urban canopy initiative, including a tree-planting contest with SDG&E. She asked if a cost analysis of in-house vs. contracted trimming had been done; management said it would require further study.
    • Chair Sherman questioned whether technology (e.g., photos) could be required in the next contract to verify work. Management confirmed they are exploring contractor field software.
  • Outcome: Motion to accept and forward to City Council passed unanimously.

Item 3: Monthly Activity Report (Informational)

  • Interim City Auditor Kyle Elser: Reported two audit products issued (the two presented), three audits in report-writing stage (IT disaster recovery, PUD AMI implementation, homelessness – delayed to July), one in fieldwork (network perimeter controls), five in planning, and one not started. In FY2019 so far, 17 audit reports and 2 hotline reports issued, with 78 recommendations.
  • Committee Questions:
    • Mr. Spencer asked about the call center audit exceeding budgeted hours by one-third. Auditors explained that initial single-auditor scope expanded to two when complexity was discovered.
    • He also asked about the risk management audit (used 25% of hours in planning) due to access issues with City Attorney’s office; auditors are working to resolve without scope impairment.
    • Chair Sherman asked about prioritization when audits exceed hours; auditors carry over lowest-priority audits to next year’s plan.
  • Outcome: Committee considered themselves informed.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent Calendar: Minutes approved unanimously.
  • Item 2 (Call Center): Audit accepted and forwarded to City Council; management committed to 6‑month implementation timeline with specific milestones (e.g., new training, system decision by Jan 31, 2020).
  • Item 1 (Tree Maintenance): Audit accepted and forwarded to City Council; management will incorporate contract compliance plan into upcoming RFP and develop additional KPIs.
  • Next Meeting: Scheduled for July 10, 2019, 9:00 a.m., same location.

Meeting Transcript

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to June 12, 2019 meeting of our audit committee. With us today, we have Vice Chair, Councilmember Jen Campbell. Committee members Spencer and Valdivia. Taking Tom's seat. I see Mr. Valdivia. And we have our newest member, Mr. Stuart Halpern. Welcome, sir. Anything you want to say and to introduce yourself to the rest of the committee and the staff? Nothing other than I'm honored to have the opportunity to serve, and I look forward to working with you all. You say that now. Welcome aboard, sir. Much appreciated. We also have Kyle Elser, our interim city auditor, Lisa Byrne with the IBA, Scott Clark with the Department of Finance, Joan Dawson with the City Attorney's Office, and Dan Manley is still here as our audit committee consultant. We need to start off the meeting with the approval of the minutes from May 22nd, 2019. Do I have a motion? Moved by Councilmember Campbell and second by Mr. Valdivia. All in favor? Passes unanimously. All right. Non-agenda public comment comes up next. We have one request for non-agenda public comment and Figgy. Good morning. You'll have three minutes. First of all, thank you for the votes to add a position to the urban forestry program and also to uh restore the tree trimming. That's exactly what we're talking about today. Maybe this audit has influenced it. And it's it's all being part of taking care of the trees that we have. So I have a meeting at 10 o'clock and I have to leave here at 9.35 so I can bicycle over to it. We couldn't change it. It was a community forest advisory meeting, so I wanted to make sure that I covered some of this in case I'm not here. However, the non-agenda public comment is that we are recruiting for board members for the community forest advisory board. It's kind of got out of our um uh horizon, and that is that all the terms are co are expiring either December last year or December this year. So each of you in your council districts hopefully will start looking for for people who can replace the really good people that we've had here. There's only three eligible to be renewed, so we are looking at a turnover and that's gonna take the work of a lot of us. Um on this technology report on on this report, it's an excellent collection of numbers. Um it's what we've needed for to know what the backlog was from not having any staffing and and funding for a lot for a long time, and it feeds right into that tree bid that's gonna be um that's up for renewal now. The big surprise for me is that it doesn't mention technology. Technology is transforming urban forestry. Every tree has a number or clip, and every time you go up to a tree or every time you order a group of trees to be to be pruned or or trimmed, that goes right into that uh into the base. So hopefully that one of the recommendations that I would suggest that we add is that the that the performance analytics help the department figure out what the most current um technology or nearly current technology is for um tree inventories and tree conditions and tree care. Um thank you for the uh voting the additional one if TE. It is only a down payment. The five-year action plan um has a a number of action items and and Brian has a really Brian Weiner, the city forester has a really good um uh status of those and we really when we look at it um cannot do quality work with the staff that we have. So we'll continue to ask for additional um urban foresters, professionals. He has some good tree trimmers, and then we will also hope that we will continue to to invest in the tree care and in the tree planting at the funding well contract levels that we have. So again, thank you, and I apologize for switching this around, but I'll I'll stay as long as I can and thank you.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com