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day operations of the City. He did not believe the council needed another employee. He opposed <br />the motion. <br /> <br />Ms. Nathanson quoted from the materials provided to the council by the CCRC on the topic, which <br />stated "Nonetheless, internal auditors should not report directly to the governing board except in <br />highly unusual circumstances, for example, evidence of fraud by top management." She said that <br />much of the information the council received from the committee was conflicting. <br /> <br />Ms. Nathanson asked how many people worked in the Portland city auditor's office. Mr. Carlson <br />believed there were a total of 56 people working in the Portland auditor's office. <br /> <br />Ms. Nathanson said she heard no clarity in the discussion about the nature of the position <br />envisioned. It was unclear if councilors were talking about a performance auditor or a financial <br />auditor. She believed the public wanted to know there was no fraud in municipal operations, and <br />there were financial audits to ensure that happened. <br /> <br />Ms. Nathanson believed that the organizational credibility of the organization relied in part on the <br />credibility of the council, and how well it managed the City's affairs. She asked how Mr. Carlson <br />would characterize the auditor role authorized through the fiscal year 2003 budget. Mr. Carlson <br />characterized it as an independent audit performed under contract by an independent auditor. Ms. <br />Nathanson thought such an independent audit would serve as well in terms of expertise and <br />independence. She said she had too many questions to support a solution when the problem was <br />not yet adequately described. <br /> <br /> Mr. Rayor, seconded by Mr. Pap~, moved to amend the motion with the <br /> following substitute text: "The City Manager shall appoint a City performance <br /> auditor, subject to confirmation by the City Council. The performance auditor <br /> shall conduct or cause to be conducted performance audits and may conduct <br /> studies intended to measure or improve the performance of City functions. <br /> The performance auditor shall regularly report the results of their work, as <br /> well as the annual performance work plan to an audit committee consisting of <br /> the Budget Committee or a subcommittee of the Budget Committee." <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly solicited comments on the amendment to the motion. <br /> <br />Speaking in support of his amendment, Mr. Rayor said it created a new city auditor position <br />subject to confirmation by the manager. He did not want to create a new committee through the <br />charter that could not be maintained because of funding or one that represented a duplication of <br />efforts. <br /> <br />Mr. Farr preferred Mr. Rayor's motion over the previous motion, but still questioned the need for a <br />performance auditor. He agreed with Ms. Nathanson's statement about the City's ability to hire <br />independent expertise. He thought it would be irresponsible, given the economic difficulties facing <br />the City, to refer such a position to the ballot. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman considered council resistance to the concept of an internal independent auditor to be <br />"astounding." She said that such an auditor would assist the council in its evaluation of the <br />manager, and would help inform budget policy. She said that without council oversight, the <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 10, 2002 Page 5 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />