The Santa Paula Police Department was the focus of the first comprehensive audit ordered by the council.The Public Works Department is the city’s largest: although the police department rivals public works in the number of employees, it is a 24-7 operation. Water, sewer and trash services provided by Public Works are known as enterprise funds, which provide the budgets for the different functions.The audit will focus on customer service and program effectiveness, among other facets of the department. Public Works oversees engineering, streets/storm drains, storm water quality, building and grounds, trash collection and recycling, the wastewater treatment plant, water, and the city’s equipment and fleet of vehicles.Organizational issues to be addressed in the management audit include structure, deployment of resources, customer service, department goals, review of staffing levels, team structures, employee development programs and workloads. Bucknam & Associates Inc. will conduct the audit that will result in a public works program plan. The cost for the audit will mostly come from enterprise funds.
Council: Public Works to be focus of next management audit
March 09, 2005
Santa Paula City Council
Public Works, the city department that oversees everything from the trash service to the wastewater treatment plant, streets and sideways to signals and streets lights, will be the focus of a management audit.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesPublic Works, the city department that oversees everything from the trash service to the wastewater treatment plant, streets and sideways to signals and streets lights, will be the focus of a management audit. The City Council agreed to the almost $51,000 audit at the February 22 meeting.“When was the last time we had an audit on public works?” asked Councilman Ray Luna.“We understand that there was some sort of a study done for a former city manager about 10 years ago,” said City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz. But the decade-old audit was not crafted to include employee input, among other facets the new audit will address. “As a rule of thumb,” such management audits should be conducted every five to seven years, Bobkiewicz added.