The South Pasadena Finance Commission voted 4-0 on March 28 to approve the Treasury Department's interim budget review to the City Council, with the caveat that finance staff would provide the City Council with a “high-level understanding” of the requested budget data. It was approved to recommend that
The seemingly innocuous action culminated weeks of intense activism over the city's financial viability and the quality of financial data it provides, reaching a ceiling for the commission. Vice Chair Sheila Rossi demanded an apology from council members for public comments that questioned her integrity.
“My professionalism was attacked because my character was attacked.” [was] “It’s incredibly hurtful and devastating,” she said, “…especially after working so hard to understand the changing numbers that our staff is providing.”
After the meeting, Deputy City Manager Domenica Megerdikian told the South Pasadenan News that the commission's recommendations include adding unexpected, overestimated or other “burdens” to current and future budget reports. '', he said, includes a request to include savings from a certain amount, as well as figures for health insurance, professional services, medical expenses, etc. This not only saves on utility costs, but also saves on personnel and salaries.
City Treasurer John Downs said he would “look at some things related to savings,” but warned it would not be a “comprehensive” list like the one typically produced later in the budget cycle. .
mid-term review, The report, which comes as the city gears up to develop its budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, documents how revenues and expenses track budget estimates.
However, at its Feb. 29 meeting, the Finance Committee reiterated its dissatisfaction with the staff's financial reporting practices and the information Mr. Downs presented in support of the mid-term review. They unanimously voted to postpone approval until “the necessary level of clarity is achieved,” as Chairman Peter Giulioni said.
The vote came after alarm bells were sounded a week ago following a report the City Council received from city contractor NHA Advisors projecting a general fund deficit of up to $3.9 million annually over the next five years. . Current fiscal year and previous fiscal year.
This prediction led to the creation of a “special” committee to scrutinize municipal finances.. The at-large council, made up of Mr. Giulioni, Mr. Rossi and two city council members, met three times and conferred for hours on the phone. Speaking to the City Council on March 6, Giulioni reported that the data dive alleviated some of his concerns and provided him with a better understanding of NHA's deficit projections. However, while the staffing request was reasonable, more time was needed to review the data requested by the finance department. Meanwhile, he recommended a “pause” on non-essential hiring and spending.
At the next council meeting on March 20, Councilor John Primus voted in favor of dissolving the special session. He accused Rossi of making “a couple of statements” that contained “wrong and completely false information.” He said the select committee had overstepped its mandate, made comments with “political undertones” and criticized the delay in the mid-year review, despite admitting the Treasury staff's spending demands were reasonable. said. He also claimed he was “sidelined”, “ignored” and held “closed-door meetings without staff”.
Staff were “shaking their heads” during the March 6 special meeting presentation. Treasurer Downs “walked away in disgust, not having the slightest interest in hearing what Rossi had to say about the accuracy of his statements,” which were “serious accusations against the city and its finances.”
City Councilor Michael Cacciotti echoed Plymouth's assessment, calling it an ad hoc “distortion.” [and] It claimed that there had been “false reporting” that had damaged staff morale and caused some to “leave for other cities.”
While admitting The temporary staff member did in fact meet with city staff, but Primus later clarified that he should have concluded his case through the staff, but Rossi did not. “When staff walk away because they are not given the opportunity to be heard on important issues before the council, it is a sign of a broken working relationship,” he said in an email to the South Pasadenan News. ” he wrote.
Giulioni demurred. Staff input was not sought during the March 6 presentation. “Not only did we give them a refresher opportunity, but we sent them the entire presentation at noon that day.” But “no one called me.” The special meeting was “private” in that it was not on the agenda and was not publicly notified under the Brown Act; The group approved staff requests to attend meetings, but did not decline or accept requests from anyone else.
Giulioni, SCE's senior organizational development consultant, denied claims that Rossi made false statements. “She was sounding the alarm that there were problems we were facing and we needed to solve them. She reviewed the documents that were made available to us, and those documents Some of them had errors and edits. She pointed out some of those mistakes. What she said was reasonable based on the analysis she did.” Rossi's comments Some of the information on which it was based later turned out to be incorrect. But in that moment, she didn't mean to mislead. She wasn't accusing anyone of anything wrong. ”
Giulioni said he believed the city council was “reacting to the committee's comments pointing out that past city council analyzes were not rigorous.” There was a lot of tension and excitement. What you have is a finance committee that is more active than other committees in the past. ”
public records indicates that Incomplete data submitted by staffCombined with months of “misunderstandings'' by City Council and select committee member Janet Brown over the Finance Committee's data requests, it created a chaotic mess that caused friction. Some of the materials in question concerned budget and personnel data that were at the heart of Primus' statements that accused Rossi of misrepresentation. Some of the most serious mistakes were only revealed under Rossi's scrutiny.
After the European Commission approved the mid-term review, Mr Rossi said the information on which he had based his statements “at the time” included figures, the accuracy of which was later called into question. , said, “It wasn't completely clear yet.” In reality, mistakes happen. ” She spoke of the need for people to feel safe both in speaking out and in acknowledging their presence.
“We feel obligated to apologize” for that and for what was cited as the reason for the council's decision to dissolve the special meeting. She called for “a culture change, especially a culture change in our community and city council.”
Giulioni said he believes both parties are now “committed to getting back on track and working together to move the city forward.”he pointed out that The committee also recommended using the NHA tool to “pressure test future budgets.”
The alarm over the NHA's deficit forecast was raised in part because the data incorporated into it “was not necessarily carefully considered before implementation.” He is “a fan of the NHA tool, but I don't like the hysteria that comes with it.” By using this, “the city's budget can be adjusted to prevent the city from falling into an unsound fiscal situation.''
Deputy City Manager Megerdishan The board said it would take final action at an interim review on April 17. Staff will meet with both the committee and the board in lieu of meeting with subcommittees of both agencies. The city will then begin a new budget, raising issues such as vacancies and staffing levels, short- and long-term considerations and “revenue opportunities.” The joint council/committee meeting will cover topics such as the Capital Improvement Program budget;
The city is soliciting public input on the budgeting process by releasing a five-question survey that will be accepted through May 14. The survey is linked here. It is also seeking candidates to fill the vacancy on the Finance Committee that was created after Commissioner Stephanie Hernandez resigned for personal reasons. The government hopes to speed up the process and appoint new commissioners on April 17, in time for the budget to be activated.
