Blog note: this piece is part of a longer article reporting on a board of supervisors’ meeting.
After the budget discussions, the board shifted focus to its responses to the Tuolumne County Civil Grand Jury report.
The board was tasked with responses to findings and recommendations regarding the county’s deteriorating roads, as well as management and oversight issues with the Tuolumne County Economic Development Authority.
Among the jury’s finding related to the TCEDA were that the agency lacks sufficient metrics to evaluate performance, does not allow for independent oversight by refusing to disclose the nature of activities or identities with business clients, and does not follow the best practices for public agencies when it comes to transparency and using public funds.
The board elected not to respond to the finding because only three of the five supervisors have served on the TCEDA’s Governing Board and “therefore lack the intimate knowledge necessary to make thoughtful and informed comments.”
In response the jury’s recommendation for the hiring of an independent firm to conduct a management audit on the TCEDA, the board stated it would request that the agency’s board take the necessary steps to do that.
Pedro explained that the responsibility for hiring the firm to conduct the management audit falls on the TCEDA, as opposed to the Board of Supervisors, because it’s a separate entity that was formed through a joint-powers agreement in 2008.
County Auditor-Controller Debi Bautista, who also serves as the TCEDA’s auditor-controller, estimated the audit would cost about $26,250.
Additionally, the city recently responded to the jury’s report and stated a desire for an independent financial audit of the TCEDA’s books for the past two fiscal years.
Bautista explained at a previous meeting that the TCEDA has never had a full independent audit, like the city and county are required to do every few years.
She estimated the audit would cost up to $15,000 for the first year and about $8,000 to $10,000 for every year after that.
The Sonora City Council has recently discussed the possibility of leaving the TCEDA if the issues reported by the jury aren’t addressed, which concerned District 1 Supervisor Sherri Brennan, who represents the city and serves on the TCEDA board.
“I just want to know there’s a majority of alignment between both (council members and supervisors) before we dive into this management piece,” she said.
Brennan requested that discussion be scheduled for a future meeting to possibly set a date for a joint-meeting between the board and council, after which the board unanimously approved the responses to the jury’s report.
August 21, 2018
The Union Democrat
By Alex MacLean
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