Redding council moves towards implementing financial oversight committee
Newly appointed Mayor Mike Littau presided over a collaborative council discussion on oversight of the city’s budgeting processes — something that’s been a source of tension on the council for months.
Redding City Council member Mike Littau picked up the mantle of Redding mayor this week.
His appointment was nearly unanimous, with only council member Tenessa Audette opposed. She said she was worried Littau would silence her voice, emphasizing that the only person she supported for mayor was council member Dr. Paul Dhanuka. He was chosen as vice mayor.
Immediately after his appointment, Littau presided over a discussion on the council’s tensest topic as of recent months: finances. The council picked up a discussion that began last month, which was to bring forward a new financial oversight committee.
The idea of launching such a committee resulted from concerns raised by Audette earlier this year when she issued a long-form report on her campaign website, raising questions about the city’s financial transparency and accuracy.
In past meetings, other council members have emphasized that they don’t share her concerns. But they still agreed with the idea of implementing a financial oversight committee, something some other municipal jurisdictions already have.
“It’s just best practice,” council member Resner emphasized during yesterday’s council meeting, saying her research into similar committees elsewhere have convinced her that the process will add to the council’s financial decision-making process.
Resner laid out her ideas for how such a committee would be structured, pulling on references from other jurisdictions that were provided in a staff report. In response, other members of the council chimed in, agreeing on most points.
Discussions last night were all preliminary. Staff will bring back formal guidelines for the committee for the council to approve later based on the council’s input so far, but the guidelines for how the committee will be formed were fairly well-defined during council discussions last night.
The council hopes to implement an oversight committee that includes two council members and five members of the public — one chosen by each council member — serving staggered four-year terms. Two members of finance staff would be required to attend the meetings and present or answer questions as needed but would not serve on the committee, which would meet four times a year.
The committee’s role would be advisory, providing input revenue projections, feedback on staff and council’s preliminary decisions and monitoring of budget performance.
Criteria to guide which members of the public could be appointed to the committee is still under consideration by the council, but there was general agreement that the council should appoint community members with financial experience representing different sectors of the economy — such as healthcare, retail, construction and insurance — and who do not pose concerns for conflicts of interest in terms of business or familial connections to either staff or council members.
At council member Jack Munns’ request, the council also plans to add a check-in process after two years to decide whether the finance committee is working.
During last night’s meeting, council members also discussed modifications to an already-existing audit committee, bringing forward ideas for how to improve the workings of that body. Those suggestions, like the ones for the proposed financial oversight committee, will return to the council at a later date for finalization, with more public input.
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One of the council members is a megalomaniacal self-righteous control freak. I don’t even have to say which one—you all know.
Remember the r e u oversight commission, and how long it lasted.
They’re all about promising transparency until somebody sees through the transparent smokescreen, and then they dissolve the oversight.
This city will never be transparent as long as there are
3 influencers dictating who gets selected to city council.
Spending the most money and the most promises during the election cycle.
Well, I’m ranting the worst waste of money in my whole 55 years of paying attention do. Redding city politics was the one point 25 million dollars spent on the riverfront specific plan. It will contain nothing that the plan written by the citizens group in the eighties contained.
There’s nothing wrong with this idea. Transparency in government spending should be fully apparent. Shasta County would do good to implement the same type of commission. Shasta County has spent millions of dollars on the Crye Coalition of election and vaccine conspiracy theory nonsense, payment to cronies like Chris Street, trips for our CEO to go visit the Smithsonian, trips for Crye to go pray with Mr. Pillow, and supposedly hand deliver a letter to Trump as well as and an attempt to give a million dollars to Crye’s personal friend and campaign manager Nigel. Meanwhile, our in-home healthcare providers are barely able to buy food and pay the rent. Nationally and locally, MAGA continues to bankrupt the American middle class and spend taxpayers dollars like drunken sailors.
Why was not a local CPA firm without business ties to the City of Redding hired to read the 165 pages of council member Tenessa Audette’s concerns, interview her, and then conduct a non-forensic audit (that should be all that is needed) with a conclusion as to how the audit did or did not support Ms. Audette’s concerns. The expense of the audit would purchase a great quantity of trust from the citizens of the City of Redding: The City of Redding government is in need of an additional great quantity of trust from the citizens it purportedly serves.
Why do we not do better than choosing a “Fired” insurance agent (for unethical business practices) as Redding Mayor? Absolutely agree with Resners “best practice” of having a Redding Financial Oversight Committe! Geez, is this how any of us would want to run our personal business? Fox guarding the hen house? Is so, we wouldn’t be in business for very long, would we?