City Council Members Appear To Fear Staff

Audit Of City Council Operations Muzzled By Gilmore, Torres; Council Strips Auditor’s Subpoena Power After Suit To Force Audit

by Glen Richardson

Efforts by Denver’s top watchdog — City Auditor Timothy O’Brien, CPA — to begin a pending audit of city council operations stalled because the leadership refused to allow his office to comply with required audit standards. The audit had been planned for more than a year after some of the council members requested the audit. As the Chronicle went to press O’Brien sued City Council to force an audit and as a result Council members voted to repeal the existing subpoena power ordinance (see sidebar article on page 4).

O’Brien insists that interviews with council staff members be conducted without their bosses nosing in. Each city council member receives $264,000 to pay the salary of staff and to operate their office. Council President Stacie Gilmore and President Pro Tem Jamie Torres, however, refuse to allow staff interviews without a senior staff member or an attorney present. Gilmore says they will work with the Auditor’s Office to “resolve the issue in the next year.”

That’s apparently how long the duo and newly appointed City Council Executive Director Bonita Roznoa think it will take to correct or cover-up problems O’Brien and his staff might uncover. Appointed in January, she fills the revolving door position that has been vacant since Aug. 2020 when her predecessor was fired after less than a year in the position. The position oversees the six legislative service staff, helps with budgeting, plus other personnel functions. She was council operations manager for Sacramento, Calif.

Menacing Bosses

“Council leadership won’t allow their own staff to have open and honest conversations with my audit team,” Auditor O’Brien explains. “This intimidating behavior throws a wet blanket on our audit work.”

Consider, as an example, a council boss or lawyer interrupting an interview with, “what he or she meant to say…” — just as the audit team was questioning something suspicious or agenda squabbling. What a nerve-wracking weight it would have on a staffer that was about to become a whistleblower.

“My authority as auditor comes from the people,” Auditor O’Brien continues. “The people voted to update the charter and require that we follow Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards. This requirement is not subject to change by the City Council.” He adds that conducting unrestricted interviews with staff is a standard step in performance auditing.

Out Of Sync Values

In an era of increasing public scrutiny of city services and integrity, performance

auditing provides critical information needed for accountability. There are currently city auditors in 116 major cities in the U.S. and Canada.

O’Brien says that while other city agencies have made similar requests, his office is typically able to explain why having a staffer present during interviews is not appropriate and persuade the agency to agree. “I hope they talk it over and change their minds,” he concludes. “I can’t conduct the audit under their standards. That doesn’t make sense.”

Local citizens the Chronicle talked to agree: “They’re out of sync with the core values of Denver. Those in elected positions should be truthful, frank, and candid. That’s what we expect of them plus it’s part of their job. It’s also why voters elected them.” A few added they fear this kind of cageyness would lead to increased public mistrust of Denver’s city government.

Subpoena Power Stalled

The City Council’s Finance & Governance Committee directed by Chair Kendra Black and Vice Chair Robin Kniech has likewise rejected — at least temporally — Auditor O’Brien’s request for subpoena power. They halted forwarding the proposal to the full city council for approval but agreed to reconsider on April 20.

O’Brien is seeking the subpoena power to speed up audits of outside groups that receive money from the city — the Denver Zoo and Denver Art Museum are examples — plus private companies accused of violating minimum-wage laws. O’Brien says delaying those audits costs the city about $10,000 per week.

The Downtown Denver Partnership, Metro Chamber of Commerce, and Colorado Competitive Council oppose the measure. The business groups say the 21-day response time the bill allows them is too short. They’ve also expressed concerns about city government demanding payroll records from businesses. The council committees want O’Brien to meet with the groups to discuss their concerns before allowing the proposal to move forward.

Chat Changer

Councilman Jolon Clark said he was worried information gathered through subpoenas might be leaked to the public by an audit. O’Brien, however, noted that when investigating wage complaints, none of the information has made it into the hands of the general public. Moreover, he adds that almost all companies accused by credible wage-enforcement complaints cooperate with the city.

Furthermore, O’Brien says that the new authority his office would get will assure that minimum wage and city contract cases he gets but is unable to resolve could come to a conclusion. “I think subpoena power changes the conversation,” O’Brien conveyed to the committee. “It puts the burden on the agency or the contractor.”

District 10 Councilman Chris Hinds — he represents Cherry Creek, Cap Hill, Cheesman Park, Country Club, the Golden Triangle, and Speer — says he likes the bill. But he adds, because O’Brien didn’t initially meet with business owners representing the trio of groups, “I too would be willing to keep this in committee.” Elected in a 2019 runoff, he will be up for reelection in 2023.

Digging Into Deals

The potential audit setbacks, however, aren’t slowing down the forceful O’Brien. He’s swinging big with nearly a dozen 2022 city audits. He is taking on some of Denver’s most pressing issues: How the city is managing homeless camps, residential permitting, and affordable housing.

He’s also diving into campaign finance, Denver Human Services’ child welfare placement system, plus the city’s recycling and composting programs. His agenda also includes audits of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and Denver Water.

“Our residents are letting us know what’s most important to them, and I applaud the widespread interest in our city’s key issues,” O’Brien states. “We take the time needed to do our due diligence and fact-checking, while adhering to generally accepted government auditing standards as required by the city charter. This is how the public knows our work is of the highest quality and can be trusted.”

Subpoena Brownout: Finance & Governance Chair Kendra Black has at least temporarily refused to forward Auditor’s request for subpoena power to the full city council for approval.

Auditor Sues To Force Audit; Council Retaliates By Stripping Subpoena Power

Denver Auditor Timothy M. O’Brien filed a lawsuit to rectify the damage caused by the Denver City Council’s ordinance amendment that improperly restricts independent audit work. The City Council quickly retaliated by repealing the existing subpoena power ordinance and thus preventing an audit.

The City Council voted 11 to 1 to revoke the subpoena powers, with the lone “no” vote by Councilwoman Candi CdeBada. Acknowledging the Council chose to repeal the existing ordinance, O’Brien told the Chronicle in mid-March: “We are aware of plans in the weeks ahead to discuss restoring the subpoena power to our wage investigation work. I hope to work with council to find a solution that works for everyone.”

As for the Audit Services Division he adds: “As I have said previously, we already have the right to all records we need without restrictions, according to the Denver Charter and contract audit clauses. However, without the subpoena power to speed the process up, we will have to go back to working as we were before.”