San Diego Audit Committee Meeting – April 26, 2023
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San Diego Audit Committee Meeting – April 26, 2023
The Audit Committee of the San Diego City Council met on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at 9:00 AM. The meeting was chaired by Councilmember Stephen Whitburn and included Vice Chair Vivian Moreno (appearing virtually), and committee members Joe Halpern, Mafia, and Tabshuri. The agenda covered approval of prior minutes, follow-up on audit recommendations, a fraud hotline report on unsafe driving by city employees, the quarterly fraud hotline summary, and the auditor's monthly activity report. Public comment included praise for the committee and suggestions for improvement.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Committee Actions (March 8, 2023): Approved unanimously by roll call vote (4–0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Blair Beekman (non-agenda public comment): Congratulated the council on passing a tenants ordinance, suggested the committee review San Jose's police overtime audit as a model, and noted this was his first audit committee meeting.
- Blair Beekman (on item 1): Urged the committee to clearly define the centralized driving review system and expressed concern about smart meter issues at Public Utilities.
- Judy Strang (on item 1): Commended the committee's work, specifically on recreation equity, and emphasized the importance of including impaired driving (especially marijuana) in employee training, citing National Safety Council notices.
Discussion Items
- Item 2: Office of the City Auditor's Recommendation Follow-Up Report (Part 2) – Informational. Deputy City Auditor Danielle Knighton presented an update on 77 open recommendations across 11 departments. Chief Compliance Officer Christiana Gauger provided updated target dates for past-due items. City Attorney Mara Elliott suggested the committee review whether recommendations from prior administrations (pre-December 2020) are still relevant, rather than carrying them indefinitely. Vice Chair Moreno disagreed, arguing that audits provide non-political analysis that should not be discarded with new administrations. Committee member Tabshuri led a detailed department-by-department review. Several departments reported progress (e.g., 95% completion on fee administrative regulation, new workforce report, implementation of telematics scanners). Discussion included the need to streamline the follow-up process, possibly via a subcommittee.
- Item 1: Fraud Hotline Report – Unsafe Driving by City Employees – Senior Fraud Investigator Andy Herrera presented the findings. Key statistics: Over fiscal years 2017–2021, the city paid $30 million in liability claims for motor vehicle accidents, with an average of nearly one preventable accident per day. The report found rare use of telematics data as required by AR 90.74, 39 incomplete accident investigations (fiscal year 2021 alone), insufficient driver policy training, and potential for cost-effective technology upgrades (e.g., driver identification, targeted training). City management disagreed with two of four recommendations: they preferred a centralized compliance approach over decentralized supervisor reviews and deferred cost-benefit analysis until a program is built. Compliance Director Gauger confirmed a new position was proposed in the FY24 budget. City Attorney Elliott noted the report stemmed from hotline complaints and questioned whether the audit was properly added to the work plan; the City Auditor clarified that hotline reports are not part of the audited work plan. Committee member Halpern suggested harmonizing disagreement categorization to reflect substantive agreement with risk mitigation.
- Item 3: Quarterly Fraud Hotline Report (FY2023 Q3) – Informational. 66 reports received; 7 assigned to the auditor, 26 to departments, 33 outside purview. 36 cases closed, leaving 44 open. Four substantiated cases (vote registration, customer service, misuse of city vehicle, time abuse). City Attorney Elliott encouraged the committee to publicize the hotline and protect whistleblowers.
- Item 4: City Auditor's Monthly Activity Report – Informational. City Auditor Andy Hano highlighted two reports issued (quarterly hotline and unsafe driving), noted an award for the body camera audit, a $1.19 million settlement from a vendor overcharging for homeless services (from a 2021 CARES Act audit), and a budget request for $565,000 (including salary adjustments and three new positions). The mayor's proposed budget included salary adjustments but not the additional positions. Hano argued the positions would enable 1–2 more audits per year, citing potential savings (e.g., a Pure Water audit could yield 1% efficiencies worth $14 million).
Key Outcomes
- Consent Calendar: Approved unanimously.
- Item 1 (Unsafe Driving): Motion by Vice Chair Moreno (seconded by Halpern) to accept the report, keep the four recommendations open, and require staff updates through the regular recommendation follow-up process. Passed unanimously (4–0).
- Item 2 (Recommendation Follow-Up): No action required; the committee noted the report and discussed process improvements. Chair Whitburn committed to reviewing the recommendation follow-up process.
- Item 3 (Quarterly Hotline): Accepted as information.
- Item 4 (Monthly Activity): Accepted as information; the committee expressed support for the auditor's budget request.
- Next Steps: The next regularly scheduled meeting is June 14, 2023, at 9:00 AM.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning, Molly. If I could do a mic check, hi, Councilmember Moreno, can you please do an audio check? Good morning. Perfect. Thank you. Good morning. Well, good morning, everybody. Welcome to today's meeting of the audit committee. Thank you very much for being with us today. While members of the public are able to attend the meetings in person, this meeting is also being televised and live streamed on the city's website and council administration. We'll continue to make arrangements for the public to comment using the Zoom webinar platform. Additionally, members of the public who wish to provide testimony via a call-in or internet-based services option must enter the virtual speaking queue within five minutes after the conclusion of in-person public testimony or before the virtual speaking queue is exhausted, whichever occurs first. This will allow for better meeting management between the two platforms and ensure that the council is able to manage and conduct city business. We appreciate the public's cooperation. As we go forward, I'll go over the specifics on how to join the webinar and we'll give details on how the public can offer public testimony. At this time, I will call to order the audit committee meeting of Wednesday, April 26th, 2023. Moreno present. Committee member Halpern. Present. Committee member Mafia. Mafia present. And committee member Tab Shuri. Present. And I'm Stephen Whitburn, so we have a quorum. Councilmember Moreno, please proceed with your declaration. Thank you, Chair. Councilmember Moreno, can you hear us? Okay. Uh we appear to have lost the virtual connection there, so we'll circle back as necessary. This committee is fortunate to have several attendees that will greatly contribute to our efforts this morning. City Auditor Andy Hannah, City Attorney Mara Elliott, Chief Compliance Officer, Christiana Gagger, and from the Office of the Independent Budget Analyst, Amy Lee. Thanks to each of you for being here this morning. For members of the public who wish to comment at today's meeting, if you're in person, please complete a speaker slip located at the entrance of chambers and place it in the box, located at the speaker's lecture at the front of the room. Please do so in a timely manner to ensure public meeting management. In turse person testimony, we'll conclude before virtual testimony begins. Members of the public can join the webinar by computer, tablet, or smartphone by accessing the link, which is listed online in the preamble language of the agenda on the city's webpage. To join the Zoom webinar by telephone, you may dial either one six six nine two five four five two five two or one six four six eight two eight seven six six. And when prompted, input webinar ID 161-261-1956 pound. And that information is also available on the agenda. The public may view the meeting on City TV, which is Channel 24 for Cox Communication and Spectrum, or Channel 99 for ATT Uverse, or you may view the meeting online by going to the City Council Committee's homepage at San Diego.gov and selecting the City TV Live Webcast blue button on the right hand side of the page. Please note that if you're watching via City TV or online, there may be a delay. Please participate via the audio on your phone and mute your TV or computer when it's your turn to speak. Thanks to our City TV staff, as always, for broadcasting today's meeting. If you're in person, please come up to the reserve seats at the front of the room when your name is called and be prepared to come up to the lectern in the order called. Please wait until the item to wish you wish to speak has been called before raising your hand to speak. If you raise your hand during a non-comment period, your hand will be lowered. When I introduce the item that you'd like to comment on, please raise your hand by either tapping the raise your hand button on the device that you have or by pressing star nine on your phone. When our committee liaison, Natalie Kessler indicates that it's your turn to speak, she'll call you by your name or she will read out the last four digits of your phone number. At that time, please unmute your phone by tapping the unmute button on your device or by pressing star six on your phone. Also, please mute the volume on your TV or computer before you begin to speak.
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