Inspector general proposal gets last shot at ’18 ballot
Internal watchdog position has been variously delayed, voted against at committee hearings
A proposal to ask voters whether there ought to be a new office to investigate fraud, waste and abuse at the city has one more chance.
Introduced by Councilor Joseph Maestas, the proposed ballot question would give voters in March the chance to weigh in on the idea of adding an independent inspector general’s office to the city charter. But the proposal has struggled to emerge from city committees.
Maestas, a candidate for mayor, introduced the possibility of a ballot question in the wake of a blistering September review of the city’s financial practices and policies, which found a lack of internal controls had contributed to an environment ripe for fraud and waste.
But the proposal, similar to one Maestas made in 2015, has been variously delayed and voted against at committee hearings, with councilors along the way expressing concern about potential cost and whether an inspector general is the right way to bolster the city’s watchdog function.
“I think I would welcome slowing this down,
looking more seriously at all the options that are there, trying to figure out what makes the most sense,” Councilor Peter Ives said at last week’s Finance Committee meeting, where three councilors voted not to approve the proposal.
Monday’s Public Works Committee appears to be the item’s last chance to advance to the full City Council for consideration before the city clerk’s deadline to place a question on the 2018 ballot.
“I’m hugely disappointed,” Maestas said, referring to the proposal’s committee showings to date. “Creating an independent watchdog to root out fraud, waste and abuse, and to help enforce our ethics code, is critical to the city going forward. I think it really represents a sea change in the culture at City Hall.”
Councilor Mike Harris, at the Finance Committee, said more work was needed to determine whether an inspector general was proper.
“Even if we didn’t have it on ballot, we could continue to analyze it and perhaps create it by ordinance if we thought it was appropriate,” Harris said.
Albuquerque’s inspector general, David Harper, told The New Mexican in a recent interview that he believed approving an inspector general’s office as a charter amendment was preferable to authorization by a council or mayor, which might leave the position vulnerable to the whims of policymakers the inspector general would be tasked with inspecting.
“The best situation is to be in the charter,” Harper said.
Harper also said an inspector general’s office could and perhaps should fold in internal audit functions. Maestas agreed.
Proposals introduced by Mayor Javier Gonzales that would have abolished the city’s internal audit department and outsource an internal auditor’s responsibilities to a third-party contractor have been delayed to January committee hearings and will be refashioned, Harris, a co-sponsor of the proposals, said last week.
Harris added that language abolishing the department would be removed and a new “co-sourcing” model would be hashed out.