Irvine council boosts budget to audit Great Park expenditures to nearly $1.1 million
After some contentious debate Tuesday night, the Irvine City Council approved an additional $333,000 in funding to complete the audit of more than $200 million in Great Park expenditures from 2005 to 2012.
The increase raises the cost of the 18-month forensic audit to nearly $1.1 million. A final report is expected by the end of August.
The motion passed on a 3-2 vote after minority council members Beth Krom and Larry Agran expressed opposition to the budget adjustment, proposed by Councilwoman Christine Shea.
The council originally approved $240,000 for the accounting firm Hagen, Streiff, Newton and Oshiro to conduct the audit. An additional $400,000 was approved in January. A stipend extension of $100,000 in legal fees brings the cost to more than $1 million.
The audit covers years when Krom and Agran were among a council majority steering Great Park spending.
A number of city officials, speaking as private citizens, offered mixed opinions during the public comments portion of the meeting. Harvey Liss, who sits on the city Planning Commission, called the audit a “witch-hunt that, as we all know, will turn up nothing more of utility.”
“We wouldn’t be needing this adjustment,” said finance commissioner Allan Bartlett, “if all the city consultants, the contractors, the vendors past and present, if they had cooperated fully with this audit. The initial findings were shocking enough. Now we need to see what the whole picture looks like.”
Discussion turned contentious when Mayor Steven Choi cut off Agran after the senior council member exceeded his original five-minute speaking allotment. When Agran protested, Choi responded, “Maybe you should use your time more intelligently, OK?”
The mayor allowed Agran three more minutes after his own commentary, and that still wasn’t enough.
Following the council discussion and the motion being passed, a visibly upset Agran left the dais to fill out a public comments request. In a most unusual move, Agran then addressed his colleagues from the public podium.
After some verbal sparring with the mayor, Agran introduced a thick stack of audit invoices into the public domain, “so people can begin to get some idea of where some of the dollars have been spent so far on this political witch-hunt masquerading as an audit.”
Further business among the council was less contentious. Unanimous support was given for a Great Park fiscal transparency ballot measure. The proposal, submitted by Mayor Pro Tem Jeffrey Lalloway, solidifies five reforms to existing policies.
Among the reforms are a mandate for an annual audit of Great Park expenditures and whistleblower protections for staff members and vendors “who bring to attention to the city, information about any waste, fraud or abuse of public resources,” as stated by Lalloway.
The measure, if approved at the next City Council meeting, would be placed on the November ballot.