When it comes to identifying fraud, waste and abuse, some City Council members want to make sure the oversight isn’t just limited to City Hall.
That’s why several council members pushing for the creation of an Office of Inspector General want to ensure if the watchdog office is created, it applies to all reaches of government — including the independent authorities, boards and constitutional officers.
Legislation to create the office is at the committee level and includes language to include those independent entities, but legal opinions from the late 1960s and early 1970s could impair council’s ability.
Assistant General Counsel Stephen Durden told several council members Thursday during a meeting those opinions state council can’t regulate the independents other than audits, budgets and bonding.
With more than 40 years passed and the newness of the office, council members have asked Durden to research the topic and write an opinion.
Included in the bill’s language is that the inspector general’s office be required to negotiate and execute agreements or memorandums of understanding with the independent boards and constitutional officers declaring authorization for oversight.
The independent authorities are the Jacksonville Aviation Authority, JEA, Jacksonville Transportation Authority and Jacksonville Port Authority. Boards for organizations like the Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund are considered independent. And the constitutional officers are posts such as the Tax Collector, Supervisor of Elections and Property Appraiser.
If the bill passes, council member Bill Gulliford suggested sending the groups a letter asking to initiate some type of action to show they are willing participants.
“Are you all in?” Gulliford asked. “It’ll be interesting to see which ones are on board.”
And if they aren’t “all in” willingly, they could be without a choice.
The group, consisting of Gulliford and council members Robin Lumb, Lori Boyer and John Crescimbeni, also asked Durden to start drafting language for a referendum. The move would put the issue before voters and would be binding should it pass.
The referendum wouldn’t affect what council members are trying to do now by creating the office.
The bill would hire former Palm Beach County Inspector General Sheryl Steckler for $104,000 on an eight-month contract to help establish Jacksonville’s office. Steckler would serve in a consultancy role to create Jacksonville’s manuals, IT infrastructure and help train city staff on policy and procedures.
She’d train a contract analyst and investigator, possibly during the first few months of 2015 depending on the budget council sets up.
If the timeline is maintained, a full-time inspector general could be appointed by June or July.
Until then, Steckler also will be assisting Ethics Officer Carla Miller on cases that need an inspector general to review.
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