Council Agrees To Broad Audit Coalition Must Collect Money; Only $1,000 From Each Donor

Tue., July 21, 1998

By Kathy Mulady kathymu@spokesman.com

The City Council agreed Monday to sign a contract for a $50,000 operations audit, with half the cost paid for by the Coalition for Good Roads.

But before the city inks the deal, the coalition must collect the $25,000 from citizens up front, and no one person can donate more than $1,000 to the group.

The council’s stipulations are meant to ease concerns that the audit is being paid for by a special interest group of mostly contractors and developers.

Developer John Stone, who organized Coalition for Good Roads, stood ready with a $25,000 cashier’s check for the council Monday night. Most of the money came out of his own account.

The council, however, wants the donation to come from a variety of Spokane contributors.

Stone said he’s raised $7,000 in pledges already and is confident he can collect the rest and be reimbursed.

“I hope hundreds of people eventually will contribute to this,” said Stone. “Just to assure ourselves that we’re not spending too much on roads compared to other cities, so we can get to work doing something about our roads.”

Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers said she intends to donate $100.

“It’s not John Stone doing the review, it’s a nationally respected company,” she said.

The company, DMG-Maximus, said they were ready to start work Tuesday. They offered to complete a draft of the operations review by Sept. 14 for the city to use in budget talks.

The review is a broad-based, general audit that would compare the city’s strengths and financial condition to similar cities, and suggest areas of improvement. It is not a detailed or comprehensive look at city departments, policies or finances.

Other concerns about the group’s credibility were raised Friday in a letter sent to the council by the Citizens League, which also has a plan for a performance evaluation for the city.

Councilman Orville Barnes said last week that some felt the effort was being “pushed by a group with a particular bent.”

“We need to have the money in the bank with a list of contributors,” said Barnes.

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