July
22, 2014
The
Reporter, Vacaville
By Melissa Murphy
During fiscal year 2013-14 the
Solano County grand jury has created 17 reports about various departments and
processes within the county, some heavily critical of what it found.
One of those reports on the
Intellitime time keeping system showed that the county spent more than $1
million installing the system that has yet to be fully implemented.
However, that's not entirely
the case, according to county staff.
During the Solano County Board
of Supervisors meeting onTuesday, Auditor-Controller Simona Padilla-Scholtens
explained that the grand jury report overstated the cost of the system and that
an appropriation of $481,720 was inaccurately lumped into the grand jury's
total as a cost.
"The number was
erroneously included as a cost," she said and added that it was instead an
adjustment in how they account for the cost of the project.
Padilla-Scholtens also told the
board that it was an enormous project and staff were very aware of the
complexity of implementing the program, that's why they created a team to
address the issues. However, many of the delays were unanticipated, she said.
Padilla-Scholtens also noted
that even though she was specifically mentioned in the report on Fund 173, a
funding mechanism for a joint powers agreement between the cities to address
homelessness. A grand jury report released in June shows a shortfall of
$742,675.42 pre-audit.
Padilla-Scholtens said she was
surprised to be mention specifically in the report when she was not interviewed
by the grand jury. She explained that it's a Joint Powers Authority between the
cities and the county and not a county department. She's also not sure how she
was designated as the treasurer-auditor for the JPA and couldn't find documents
supporting that designation.
Additionally, Padilla-Scholtens
said the JPA has the authority to enter into a contract with an independent
CPA, as it has done in the past.
"I felt it was important
for the public to know that I did not fail in my fiduciary
responsibility," she said.
After a presentation by the
grand jury, Supervisor Jim Spering said he's not sure how it benefitted anyone
since they came before the public before staff and the board of supervisors had
an opportunity to respond to the findings in the report.
"The appropriation was a
misrepresentation by the grand jury," he said of the Itellitime report.
"It miss characterizes the appropriations."
"It's in appropriate when
we haven't had a chance to respond," he added.
Supervisor Linda Seifert said
she was concerned because the presentation does come across as one sided.
The law does allow for the
departments and the board to respond to the grand jury reports in a timely
manner. County Counsel Dennis Bunting explained that the responsible agency has
60 days to respond and then the board has 90 days to respond.
Supervisor John Vasquez also
weighed in and said the reports are a snapshot in time of what was and that the
process doesn't allow for flexibility. He also said the grand jury, while
holding the county administration accountable, intends to find things wrong and
that's easy to do when you're looking for it.
"It's like a beached
whale, it's easy to harpoon," he said.
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