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Home My WebLink About11/05/1996 NEWS ARTICLEDon't cast a shadow on recorder's office In response to the letter in the Ashland Daily Tidings from Stephen V. Landreth on Sept. 30, and his concern that the Ashland City Recorder's office is not fulfilling the responsibil- ity of conducting fmancial audits: I called Mr. Landreth directly after reading his letter, as I was just as concerned as he was that he had been given incorrect information regarding the Office of City Recorder. For a long time, I debated with myself as to whether or not I should write a letter to the edi- tor regarding the past discussion on the duties and responsibilities of the Office of City Recorder versus the debate on the cost commis- sion measure. What I felt was important at the time was to stay on neutral ground so that those involved would feel comfortable speaking freely with me. I believe, now, I can continue to stay on "neutral" ground, but clear up misunderstand- ings regarding my office. The city of Ashland charter gives the Office of City Recorder the power to conduct account. ing audits -- not operational audits, not full~ scale financial audits, only accounting audits. ff it were to appear necessary to conduct an Commentary Barbara Christensen accounting audit, my office has and will contin- ue auditing accounting expenditures and income. There seem to be a lot of questions and con- fusion surrounding the proposed cost commis- sion, and whether or not it duplicates current auditing powers of the Office of City Recorder. In my interpretation of the measure, I agree that the proposed commission may duplicate duties and responsibilities, if it is proposed that the commission perform accounting audits. In a past article, the Tidings stated incorrect- ly the responsibilities of my office included call- ing for financial audits and operational audits of departments. I believe that the citizen-elected body of the city council is the only body to have the power to call for financial or operational audits. And "operational audits," to me, are equal to the "Strategic Planning" that depart- ments are continuing to produce. This is what I believe the article in the past Tidings meant when it stated: "She thinks departments con- duct their own audits." Again, as this was the last sentence in the article, I believe there was an abbreviation made in the editing of this arti- cle, which made my answer look very vague and rather uninformed. The Office of City Recorder is very important to me and to a great number of citizens. Don't let the debate over hhe proposed measures cast a shadow on the only city~lected office that is independent of the city administration and city council. This office provides valuable informa- tion and service to our community. Please, feel free to stop by my office anytime for conversation, information, or discussion. I would love to havethe opportunity to share the accomplishments of my off'me and explain the duties and responsibilities of the Office of City Recorder. I can also be reached through my new home page on the Internet at BarbaraC.ashland.or.us. Barbara Christensen is the recorder for the city of Ashland. TODAY Detaiis Page 8 City Ilot error can't fixed Argument in favor of cost commission cites non-existent panels in two cities By Damon Fouts , A~hland Daily Tidings An error in the Voter's Pam- phlet information on Ashland's city cost commission ballot mea- sure will have to go out uncorrect- ed, according to Jackson Cbunty Clerk Kathy Beckerr. The error involves ballot mea- sure 1561. If passed in November, the measure would create an elect- ed, five-person commission with the authority to audit Ashland city deparhnents. Citizens Right to Know Committee (CRKC) mem- ber Joe Eckhardt submitted an ar- gument in favor of the measure that implies there are sh'nilar citi- zen~lected comrrdssions in Port- land and Palo Alto, Calif. Officials from both cities stated that no such commissions exist. But the deadline for correcting Eckhardt's argument was Sept. 9, Beckett said. A copy ofthe text Eckhardt sub- mitted states, "Citizen elected commissions have precedent throughout the pation including Portland Metro and Palo Alto. These commissions save their cities minions of dollars in taxpay- ers' money." "To my knowledge, that's in- correct," said Palo Alto City Audi- sible for conducting fmancial and operational audits of city depart- menks. There are no elected com- missions auditing city finances, he maintained. Operational audits determine if a depmlment is usin~ resources such as vehicles or oth- er equipment in a cost~icient Inanner. "Where Palo AI~ came ~ I'm riot exactly. sure," said Eck- hardt~ "We may havenamed the wrong town." Eckhardt said his informatio~ ab0Ut Portland came from a col- unto in the June 3 issue of the Ore- gonian. But the column actually refers to city and county auditors in the Portland area, not citizen- elected commissions. ' Portland City:Economist Drew Barden said the only elected city official.~ that have the authority to can for financial or operational audits, or review department bud- gets, are Portland City Auditor Barbara Clark and the city council members. The Ore~onian column cites Clark as saving Portland money by performing operational audits. Vinson's and Clark's responsi- bilities are sil~ilar to tho6e of ASh- land City Recorder Barbara Chris- tensen, although Christensen and Clark are elected and Vinson is ap- pointed. Christensen her responsibili- ties include c,2llir~ for financial and operational audits of depart- ments, although she said she has never performed an operational audit on an Ashland city depart- ment. She added that she thinks 2.41.100 Recorder Responsibilities. The recorder shall: A. Adopt rules as necessary to carry out the provisions of sections 2.41.040 to 2.41.090. B. Prescribe forms for declarations required by section 2.41.050, and furnish the forms to persons required to file. C. Investigate when appropriate under the provisions of sections 2.41.040 to 2.41.090. 2.41.110 Publication. A. The recorder shall: 1. For each candidate and political committee described in section 2.41.050, publish a statement in a newspaper of general circulation and published in the City, and any other medium the recorder shall deem appropriate, indicating whether or not the candidate has agreed to limit expenditures under section 2.41.050. 2. Include the statement described in subsection 1 on the nominating petitions of all prospective candidates for public office. B. If a candidate or political committee described in section 2.41.050 has agreed to limit expenditures, but is not bound by the agreement because an opponent or opposing political committee of the candidate or political committee for the same office or measure at the same election has not agreed to limit expenditures or has exceeded the applicable expenditure limit, the published statement described in subsection 2.41.110.A. 1 shall indicate that the candidate or political committee has agreed to limit expenditures and that the candidate or political committee is not bound by the agreement because an opponent of the candidate or opposing political committee for the same office or measure at the same election has not agreed to limit expenditures or has exceeded the applicable spending limit. Title 2 Page 65 If the recorder or the city attorney finds under section 2.41.080 that a candidate described in section 2.41.050 filing a declaration of limitation on expenditures under section 2.41.050 has exceeded the applicable expenditure limit, at the next election at which the candidate is a candidate for election to public office, the recorder shall publish a statement, in a newspaper of general circulation and published in the City, indicating that the candidate violated a previous declaration of limitation on expenditures under section 2.41.050. The statement required by this subsection shall identify the date of the election at which the candidate exceeded the applicable expenditure limit. Title 2 Page 66