11 March 2020

Jeremy Whittaker Brings Accountability To The Mesa City Council

The Study Session was on 13 February 2020 - more than 3 weeks ago. It took 24 days later for East Valley Tribune Staff Writer Jim Walsh to publish a story this past Sunday. . . Better late than never, and Walsh's story details show that partisan politics in upcoming elections are clearly at play.
Despite earlier concerted efforts by City Manager Chris Brady to alter procedures to make PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS, it turns out that the real reason for a 12-minute City Council Session was due to a public records request filed by the Goldwater Institute, a conservative watchdog think tank that often sues cities to correct practices it considers unwise or an infringement on personal liberty. . .
"City Councilman Jeremy Whittaker, a potential candidate for mayor, said he works closely with the Goldwater Institute.
He also made contributions to organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Public Citizen, making his politics difficult to categorize.*
“The City of Mesa Council is not above the law. The embezzlement of taxpayer dollars through the gift card program is not only unethical but illegal,’’ Whittaker told the Tribune.
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* . . . making his politics difficult to categorize" ???
No doubt it is difficult for EVT staff writer Walsh to do exactly that - somehow try "to categorize"  Mesa City Council member Jeremy Whittaker, or anyone else asking more questions that challenge the status quo... in another story on the same day in the same publication Walsh categorized Verl Farnsworth by naming him "the north Mesa gadfly".
That's a No-No in fair and accurate and responsible journalism in any other place outside of The East Valley
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LET'S FAST-FORWARD TO LAST WEEK'S COUNCIL STUDY SESSION 03.12.2020
It's an unusual public meeting where 3 councilmembers are absent with Jeremy Whittaker on-the-phone in "beautiful stereo sound all over the room" (phrase from the mayor)
You can tell by Mesa Channel 11's screen-grab that City Manager Chris Brady is given the go-ahead by presiding officer Giles after D1 Councilmember Mark Freeman says he has nothing to say . . .
Brady gets right to Item 7-a: it's the issue of Utilities that Jeremy Whittaker raised questions about months and months ago - this time it's over the calculation of gross revenues and "pass-along costs" - as you can see Brady is looking a bit uncomfortable
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TOP STORY        
Mesa Council must document expenses        
The city’s longstanding policy
  • allows the mayor to spend up to $6,000 a year in Community Partnership funds and another $12,000 in discretionary funds.
  • Council members are allotted $5,000 in Community Partnership funds and another $9,000 in discretionary funds. 
Though such sums pale in comparison to the city’s $1.8 billion budget, the council funds are still attracting attention because of the city’s use of gift cards to support community events and organizations as well as other spending associated with the funds.
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HERE'S THE BREAKDOWN PROVIDED: with this preceding except of denial and disbelief from Hizzoner John Giles to sidestep the scrutiny:
“I wouldn’t say the Goldwater Institute’s public records request provoked this change. I think everyone in elected office knows it’s not unusual for your expenditures to be scrutinized. I think that’s just part of the job,’’ Mayor John Giles said.
Giles said he believes in transparency and that the public will be the ultimate judge of whether the funds are being spent wisely. 
He said the city has no authority to block the discretionary spending and that council members often do not know the details of how their peers are using the funds.
Under the new policy, “every time you spend two cents out of that account, you will have to fill out a form saying how this contributed to the city,’’ Giles said."
Giles spent $17,214
  • Freeman spent $13,691
  • Heredia spent 13,746
  • Luna spent $12,985
  • Thompson spent $13,914
  • The total for District Four, a combination of Glover and Duff, was $13,841.

Without exception they were all called on to provide their reasons - some more believable than others. . . and some supported or challenged
> Councilmembers members David Luna, Francisco Heredia and Jen Duff all contributing more than $200 apiece to support a children’s’ running event.
The money was used to buy 25 cards for $25 apiece that were passed out to disadvantaged children so they could buy new athletic shoes.
> Councilmen Kevin Thompson and Mark Freeman also use the cards, a substitute for cash, as “thank yous’’ for police and firefighters.
  • Thompson spent $950 on cards passed out to three fire stations in his southeast Mesa council district in the past year.
  • Freeman, a retired Mesa firefighter, made several contributions to charities related to public safety, including the new police memorial, uniforms for the Mesa Fire Department Fife and Drum Corps and two Fry’s gift cards totaling $1,575 that were handed out to fire stations.
  •  Thompson took the concept a step further by using his city-issued credit card in two consecutive years to purchase a catered Mexican lunch for police officers at the Superstition Patrol District – one for more than $1,600 and another for more than $1,200.
Some council members spend the discretionary funds for travel to conferences not covered by the city or for donations to organizations.
>The two most expensive trips documented in the city records obtained by the Tribune involved
  • 1. a $4,000 trip by Whittaker to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and
  • 2. a $3,000 reimbursement from former council member Christopher Glover’s account to Visit Mesa, the city’s tourism arm, days before he left office.
 
> Whittaker said he went to the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas to check out its municipal government exhibits, including the Samsung DEX cellphone system. . . 
But one critic said Whittaker – who has carved out a reputation as a fiscal hawk – went on a “junket’’ with little or no value to Mesa.
“It was a personal trip that he billed to the city. His justification is extremely thin,’’ said Tyler Montague, a Mesa resident who operates the Public Integrity Alliance, a volunteer organization.
“I don’t think the voters will be happy with him going on a trip like that with lavish expenses,’’ Montague said.
Even with the Las Vegas trip, Whittaker’s spending during the 2018-19 fiscal year was the lowest on the council at $9,852.
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RELATED CONTENT ON THIS BLOG :
18 February 2020
Yes You Did Hear This From Me: AUDITS AND EXEMPTIONS ,,,,,,
Sometimes friends who wish to be anonymous and un-named have made disclaimers by saying "You didn't hear this me . . ."  That's certainly OK.
Sooner or later though, it all gets corroborated, oftentimes looking back in hindsight or much later. For example at not one but two back-to-back study sessions of the Mesa City Council that took place in the public eye last week.
You probably missed these two episodes - one when city's Chief Auditor appeared to make the case for public record exemptions of the city auditor's files and papers . . 
Just who are they trying to protect?
In both of the mayor's introductions at the beginning of each study session, there's a certain demeanor like kids try-to-do to adults by "making nice" what is clearly an uncomfortable situation for them to get into and (as Jeremy Whittaker comments) they're ready to bring the soon-to-retire City Auditor to the hot seat.
#1 ITEM 8-A ADDED AT LAST MINUTE 

# 2 Here's Scott Butler caught in the screen-grab recorded by Mesa Channel 11. This is after another introduction by John Giles starting off with off-topic remarks over a who's birthday is it monologue to try to relieve some serious tension. With a few exceptions, everyone at the tables - elected and salaried - act and play stupid about accounting for expenses. Listen-and-watch how they all bluff their ways through it.
 
 
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AUDITS ARE SERIOUS
HERE'S RELATED CONTENT IN EARLIER POSTS ON THIS BLOG>> 28 March 2019
Is Mesa A Smart City with Audit, Finance & Enterprise Reports Like This???
 
You might have missed this - a 36-page presentation
Yeah - Let's see what's going here with  internal controls! 
Further use of audit resources is TBD – we will seek direction
NOTE: This is one item from this morning's Mesa City Council Session that probably not too many even noticed . . .
Take a look
Here it is > with link to the source
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