On July 17, Mayor Garcia asked the Council to revise the proposed Charter Amendment text with the underlined text below (and the Council did so on a 9-0 vote):

The City Auditor shall be furnished a copy of all reports of a financial nature prepared by any department, commission, office or agency ofthe City. In the performance of his or her duties, the City Auditor shall have timely and responsible access to all requested City records, including but not limited to financial records, contracts, documents, systems, files, property and other internal records, unless restricted or prohibited by law."

On July 30, the Mayor revised his transmittal letter for the item as follows:

[Mayor Garcia transmittal letter for Aug. 7 agenda item]:

It is requested that the words "and responsible" and "requested" be deleted for clarity's sake, as follows:

Sec. 806. The City Auditor shall be furnished a copy of all reports of a financial nature prepared by any department, commission, office or agency of the City. In the performance of his or her duties, the City Auditor shall have timely and responsible access to all requested City records, including but not limited to financial records, contracts, documents, systems, files, property and other internal records, unless restricted or prohibited by law.

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In an email this afternoon (Aug. 2) to LBREPORT.com, City Auditor Doud stated:

After several months of participating in a collaborative and deliberative process, I support the charter amendment language proposed by the Mayor in his letter attached to the agenda for the August 7th Charter Amendment Committee meeting...

I agree with the Mayor that the words to be removed are unclear. These words are vague and open to interpretation.

With the goal to eliminate uncertainty and confusion, the proposed amendment updates Charter language and codifies what the City Auditor's Office has been doing for the past several decades. The City Auditor's performance audits and investigations require timely access to all City records, not just financial records. The proposed Charter amendment language -- to authorize the City Auditor to conduct performance audits and examine all necessary City records for the purpose of independently evaluating and improving City operations -- is consistent with the charter language of other city auditors and controllers in California, including Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley.

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From Mayor Garcia's June 12 introduction of the proposed City Auditor Charter change, it included another significant change that has not been revised. It would change the current City Charter requirement that the City Auditor file audits with the City Clerk, and instead direct the Auditor to file audits with the City Council. City Auditor Doud has not objected to this change.

At the initial June 12 Charter Amendment Committee hearing, City Auditor Doud acknowledged that the proposed City Charter change might not be legally required for her to conduct performance audits, which is the publicly-stated rationale for the proposed Charter Amendment. The July 17 hearing agenda item includes letters from a number of entities and jurisdictions supporting the proposed explicit inclusion in the LB City Charter of the City Auditor's right to conduct performance audits.

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In her June 12 testimony, Auditor Doud (who frequently focuses on taxpayer costs) didn't mention the cost of a conducting a special November citywide election. As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, the City Clerk has estimated the cost at roughly $470,000 for one measure, and $45,000 for each additional measure, making the taxpayer cost roughly $650,000 if the Council calls a special November citywide election for all five of Mayor Garcia's sought Charter Amendments.

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