CHESAPEAKE — City Council is discussing the appointment of a permanent city auditor more than two years after the former fiscal watchdog retired.
Jay Poole retired from the role in early 2021 after two decades in the department. Darren Padilla, one of his deputies, has served in the interim role since.
City Council members were unable to agree on the best path forward following Poole’s departure, so they instead opted to rely on a hybrid model, calling on some outside expertise to supplement internal auditing among the four-person department.
But now, City Council members are seeking a permanent appointment, meeting in closed sessions to discuss and interview candidates. In April, the council contracted with Raftelis, a local government consulting firm, to conduct a nationwide search at a cost of $21,900, according to information provided by the city clerk.
Council members Don Carey and Debbie Ritter sit on the Audit Committee. Carey said council members have narrowed their search to three candidates, who are currently being interviewed in closed session meetings.
The department is responsible for conducting performance, financial and special audits of city departments and programs, as well as reviewing city policies and regulations. The department also handles complaints from the city’s fraud, waste and abuse hotline, and works with finance staff on the city’s external audit contract to compile the annual comprehensive financial report.
Carey said he thinks Padilla and staff have done a good job, but his biggest concern has been the city’s lack of urgency to permanently fill the role, particularly because Chesapeake is the second-largest city in the commonwealth. Hiring a permanent auditor also provides stability and security for those working in the department, he added.
“(Chesapeake) should look at itself a bit different than what we have in the past. We are not the ‘little brother city’ of Hampton Roads,” Carey said. “We should have a nationwide search for the best, the brightest, the best leaders, the most competent individuals to fill those seats.”
In 2003, the city auditor position became a council-appointed one similar to the city attorney, city clerk and city manager. Norfolk and Virginia Beach also have city auditors, as do Fairfax County and Richmond.
No formal decision came out of the council’s Tuesday night closed session meeting, but Carey said he anticipates one “very, very soon.” Council members are in the “due diligence” stage of checking on references and candidate backgrounds.
“We have several wonderful candidates that we’re interviewing and I’m confident that council is going to make the right decision,” he said.
Padilla told City Council in a 2022 annual report that the department completed audits for the city’s emergency medical services billing program, and the Community Risk Reduction Operations billing and collections. Follow up audits were also conducted for the city’s police department, central fleet, small purchase policy and economic development. Audits related to health care claims, public utilities credit care and other billing services are also underway.
Mayor Rick West said besides having varying ideas about how to move forward, issues within the City Treasurer’s Office further “complicated” the process and demanded more attention. Since last year, audit services department staff have aided the treasurer’s office, which saw some of its duties moved under the supervision of the city manager in May following years of insufficient staffing and other concerns. With that move, city staff took over the management of city bank accounts, cash and investments and billing services.
Padilla said in the 2022 report released in May that she was “proud of what we accomplished in the past year” and credited the department with being only the second at the time to transition off the city’s aging mainframe system. The continued use of the mainframe system in the treasurer’s office was another concern cited by city leaders before City Council voted to strip the office of certain duties.
“And we want to also assess what we believe the effectiveness of our acting auditor has been,” West added.
It’s unclear whether Padilla is among the candidates being interviewed.
West said the process up to this point has been “a little sloppy” due to different ideas among council about how to move forward, but that council is working together and “getting there.”
Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, [email protected]
