2004
MARCH ISSUE
White tigers
Bandy joins staff
Money Matters
Health Dept. audit
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Controller reviewing contracts
to identify substandard work
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With the help of my office, Mayor Bill White is working on a tough new plan to keep contractors with a history of poor performance from getting more work from the city and METRO.
White has asked the Controller's Office to compile a list of contractors who consistently go over budget or fail to finish projects on time.
This is an ambitious project that will require the review of hundreds of contracts dating back several years. We will identify contractors with poor performance records and determine the reasons for delays and cost overruns.
We'll also flag projects that had delays caused by design errors, poor project coordination and so forth. I hope the mayor will use the information to begin a more comprehensive review of project management.
I am pleased to play a role in this important endeavor. This will help ensure that taxpayers get what they pay for. Too often we have seen street reconstruction projects drag on and on, especially in downtown and Midtown. It's a waste of tax dollars and an inconvenience.
We have given ourselves an ambitious deadline of March 31 for presenting our findings to the mayor and City Council.
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Tiger, tiger burning bright
in the Aquarium Restaurant at night |
 There ought to be a law.
How many times have I heard that in the past six years? Soon after beginning my first City Council term in 1998, I was asked to help develop and sponsor the exotic animal ordinance to prohibit city residents from possessing dangerous wild animals, such as lions, tigers or poisonous reptiles.
After a year of discussions with animal agencies, Council members and city departments, my first ordinance passed Council unanimously in early 1999 without comment at the table.
The fact that the current City Council may amend such a popular public safety ordinance to accommodate the request of one business owner provides an interesting civics lesson in how the city passes laws. MORE |
Bandy joins controller's staff
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Susan Bandy, former assistant director of the Finance and Administration Department, has joined the City Controller's Office as a deputy controller. Bandy will direct the Financial Reporting Division, which was separated recently from Technical Services. The position of chie f deputy controller was eliminated when Judy Gray Johnson accepted the position of F&A director.
"Her knowledge of city finances will be an invaluable asset to the Controller's Office," noted City Controller Annise Parker.
Bandy has worked for F&A 13 years. As an assistant director, she oversaw budget, revenue, audits and special projects. Bandy began a special project in 1998 when she took a four-year leave of absence to help with the 2012 Olympics effort.
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Show spotlights city investments
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The city's largest investment pool, valued at about $1.4 billion, has made more money than the Dow Industrials and the Nasdaq 100 over the past five years.
This and other little-known information about city investments and debt highlights the March episode of Money Matters.
The show also offers Houstonians their first look at the early history of the Controller's Office and the turn-of-the-century scandal that created it.
This is my first Municipal Channel TV show as controller. It's a fascinating look at how the Controller's Treasury Division has so successfully, and safely, invested taxpayer's money.
Money Matters can be seen at 2 a.m., 8 a.m., 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Mondays on the Municipal Channel (Warner Cable 16, Kingwood 14, TCI 16, Phonoscope 2 and TvMax 20.)
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Warehouse flunks second audit |
An unannounced inventory audit of the City Health and Human Services Department's pharmaceutical warehouse has exposed inadequate internal controls much like the ones identified in a 2000 audit.
Controller's Office auditors sampled 60 inventory items at the 1116 S. Braeswood warehouse. Testing revealed significant differences between the department's records and actual inventory. The quantity on hand did not agree with the auditors' count for 95% of the items reviewed, and 44 (74%) items were improperly labeled.
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"Internal controls are essential
to the proper safeguarding and
management of physical
inventories purchased with
public dollars."
— Controller Annise D. Parker
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Auditors also identified excessive inventory. In some instances, there were enough items on hand to last 10 years given the current rate of usage. Another problem was the lack of written policies and procedures for proper inventory record keeping. According to a February 2000 internal report, “These weaknesses need to be immediately addressed...for the vital services of the pharmacy to continue without interruption.”
After the recent visit, auditors recommended:
· Periodic reviews to remove obsolete items,
· Routine inventory of frequently used items · Maximum and minimum inventory levels,
· Written inventory policies and procedures,
· Record-keeping training for staff,
· Labeled storage bins.
The Central Pharmacy's total inventory is valued at about $500,000. It stocks everything from birth control pills to prescription antibiotics.
The department has assured the administration it will work diligently to address the findings and recommendations.
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