Questionable expenses and practices continue while Oxnard heads towards financial ruin

By Phil Molina

Friends, and elected officials: (Sometimes to get what you pay for and sometimes you just pay a lot for …)

OK, so in February 2015 the Oxnard taxpayers were informed of some of the details behind the bad bad fiscal news about our fair city. Namely we are in a big hole and the staff appears to continue digging the hole deeper.

Bad things happen to good people all the time. In our lives we hope to learn about the details of the bad news soon enough so that we can make adjustments, changes in our lives, correct the problems and move forward.

Much of our ability to fix the problems has to do with how soon we are informed that the problem exists with sufficient detail to allow us to make corrections.

So when exactly did our august elected and appointed officials learn that there were problems with:
1. staff accumulating excess leave time beyond the limits allowed in the policies?
2. no reconciliation between the bank and cash accounts the treasurer is responsible to handle and the city’s books of account?
3. lack of proper safe keeping procedures for access to the city’s safe, which holds cash, checks, etc.?
4. the fact that staff refuses to comply with policies that demand “stale checks” be published in an news paper so everyone can see who hasn’t made good on the checks to pay to the city?
5. that city staff understood that city policies and the union agreements contained limits to the amount of accumulated leave staff is authorized to keep?
6. the need to cameras at the city’s safe deposits to record access into the safes?

Well you say we still haven’t heard about some of these problems, what are you talking about?

Will it surprise you to find out that the City’s auditors WHITE NIELSON DIEHL EVANS LLP wrote to “The honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council, City of Oxnard” many official letters (*) detailing these problems years ago?

Additionally would it surprise you to find out that the City Management responded in writing to each of those concerns stating their awareness of those problems and that each would be immediately addressed? Did you know the auditor wrote to “The Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council, City of Oxnard” as early as December 2013 with their concerns and included the written responses by the City’s Management?

OK, so who was on City Council at that time? Who were the City’s CFO (Finance Director) and City Manager and Human Resources manager at that time? Did these august staff executives get the punishment that they were due or did they get a golden or platinum retirement handshake with our tax dollars from your elected officials?

MOST IMPORTANTLY, why weren’t we, the Oxnard taxpayer, informed at that time of the problems so we could make sure staff did their job to fix those reported problems instead of letting them get even further out of hand?

Well you might say who reads these technical letters, who knows the level of significance to place on them, who after all has the acumen to know what to do with them?

I’ll take the liberty to tell you: a licensed certified public accountant, does and this is but one reason to hire a CPA for your next CFO/Finance Director, and to hire an independent internal auditor to assure internal controls are being followed.

Why don’t you ask our elected official when did they first receive these reports/letters and what exactly did they do with them once they got them. I have received copies of some of the letters/reports if anyone is interested in reading them.

(*) INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT ON INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING AND ON COMPLIANCE AND OTHER MATTERS BASED ON AN AUDIT OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS PERFORMED IN ACCORDANCE WITH GOVERNMENT AUDITING STANDARDS for the audit ending June 30, 2013, June 30, 2014.

(*) Letters to “the Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council” on SIGNIFICANT AUDIT FINDINGS for the audit ending June 30, 2013 , June 30, 2014 .

(*) Letters to “the Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council” on DEFICIENCIES IN INTERNAL CONTROL for the audit ending June 30, 2013 , June 30, 2014.

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Phil Molina is an Oxnard resident, former Oxnard Finance Director and “whistleblower,” who exposed alleged corruption, was fired, sued and won a large award, after many years of litigation.

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