(Butte) Draft Chico City Council response agrees with all Grand Jury findings

By ASHLEY GEBB-Staff Writer, ChicoER News -

The city's response to a critical Butte County Grand Jury report has been rewritten and will be up for consideration at Tuesday's City Council meeting.

The response, which requires council authorization for Mayor Scott Gruendl to sign and submit it, was rewritten under the guidance of Councilor Mark Sorensen after it was found to be unsatisfactory at the Aug. 20 council meeting. City Manager Brian Nakamura and City Attorney Lori Barker reviewed the new response and recommend its authorization.

The June report stated that during an investigation of the city's finances, prior city management provided the Grand Jury with information that was outdated, incomplete and misleading. It also notes the city was slow to respond to the loss of redevelopment agency funding and that revenue shortfalls are being covered by other funds, some of which carry negative balances.

In the original response, the city agreed with some points but disagreed with others, including the finding about accuracy of information provided to the Grand Jury. It stated it was not the intention to reference outdated information and that questions did not ask about all city funds.

It also disagreed in part about the loss of RDA funding, citing court-related delays and legal uncertainties.

The new response, crafted by Sorensen with input from Gruendl, agrees with all of the jury's findings.

"(Redevelopment) funding was lost on Feb. 1, 2012. Period. End of discussion," Sorensen said. "We lost it and we did virtually nothing. We did nothing of any substance until the fairly recent reorganization."

The new response also notes the city has taken corrective action to address inaccuracies provided to the Grand Jury with restructuring and budget policy revisions. The jury's recommendations to increase fiscal transparency and continue restructuring have been implemented, it states, and the city is still working to develop its viable financial plan to replenish deficits.

It will take a few months to even know if the city was able to make enough reductions to balance this year's budget, he said. Then, it will need to either find more revenue or make additional cuts to restore its reserves and pay down debts.

"At this point in time we are not doing anything to attempt to pay down those debts," Sorensen said.

The response is on the consent agenda, where items are considered routine and normally enacted in one motion, but it could be pulled for further discussion.

Sorensen thinks the new response is appropriate and should be satisfactory to the grand jury.

"With all of their findings we say we agree," he said. "It's hard for them to have an objection on that part and I think at this juncture there is an honest determination to address all of their findings and recommendations."

Tuesday's agenda also includes interviews and possible appointments to the Sustainability Task Force. There are 16 applicants for seven positions.

The agenda also includes monthly finance reports, a cash flow update and authorization for a 2013-14 budget modification to appropriate $80,000 in general fund emergency reserves to renegotiate labor agreements.

Also Tuesday, Gruendl will issue certificates of appreciation to Chico police officers Lori Kligerman and Donald Finkbiner, who are retiring after 23 years of service. With those and other vacancies, the city manager is also requesting to proceed with in-house recruitment for sergeant and lieutenant positions and external recruitment for officers.