City finally gets independent auditor

They’ve been talking about hiring an independent auditor at Spokane City Hall for seven years now.

The new auditor is finally scheduled to show up for work next month, although a few details are yet to be worked out – like where to locate his office.

Allen J. Kliamovich, a certified internal auditor and certified information systems auditor, was appointed to the job of Spokane city auditor in a 7-0 vote by the City Council on Monday. He will be paid $85,000 a year, and was selected from a field of seven finalists.

Kliamovich is leaving a job as senior auditor for Saudi Aramco in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, where he has worked since 1998. In a cover letter that accompanied his application, Kliamovich said he is moving “due to the political climate abroad.” Prior to his foreign employment, Kliamovich worked for Star Enterprise in Houston as an audit manager and senior audit manager.

His hiring follows years of debate and several more years of planning.

“It makes solid sense,” said former Mayor John Talbott, who made the hiring of an independent auditor a centerpiece of his 1997 campaign for what was then a council-mayor position.

In an interview Wednesday, Talbott recommended the new auditor take up an investigation of street spending as his first priority. Then, the auditor should take a look at the Fire Department as well as the money spent on top management at City Hall, Talbott said, with an eye toward finding out if taxpayers are getting their money’s worth.

It took more than two years for Talbott to win approval of the auditor’s position, and even then he had to wait for the council to fund the job. By the time the position was in place, Talbott was leaving office. His successor, former Mayor John Powers, said he was in favor of the auditor, but was slow in appointing a committee to organize the independent audit authority.

Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers said Powers appointed the audit committee only when he was facing re-election.

Councilman Al French said he personally recruited the committee chair, Mary Kuney, and gave the suggested appointment to the mayor. Even then, it took a couple of months for the chair to be appointed by Powers, he said.

French said an independent auditor will help restore the credibility of City Hall among the public. “This gives a sense of confidence somebody is watching the chicken coop,” French said.

The committee spent more than a year studying the role of an independent auditor and coming up with a plan on how to make the position work. It then worked on hiring. While largely independent, the new auditor will work under authority of the City Council in conjunction with the city’s audit committee, which includes two council members. The auditor will be independent of the mayor and city administration.

Rodgers said the auditor will be able to uncover waste at City Hall, and find places where services can be delivered more efficiently. She said the position should save the city two to three times the annual salary.

“I’m hoping for more, but I’ll be conservative,” she said of the potential savings.

Chief Financial Officer Gavin Cooley called the appointment “an excellent addition,” and said he expects the administration, and its existing internal auditor, to cooperate with the independent auditor.

Apparently, officials in the administration haven’t agreed on the best location for the independent auditor’s office, council members said. They are debating two possible office spaces on the first and fourth floors. Kliamovich was initially scheduled to report for work on Friday.

“I just thank God I lived to see the day,” Rodgers said.