Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Page 3
City Attorney Addressing Audit Complaints—Spokesperson
By a MetNews Staff Writer
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office insisted that the agency is in the process of implementing recommendations set forth in an Oct. 2010 audit of its workers’ compensation program, even though the city controller has reported no action has yet been taken.
Controller Wendy Greuel last Wednesday released an “audit scorecard” which tracks the progress of city departments in implementing the recommendations made in the 41 audits her office has completed in the last two years.
The six-page report, available on the city controller’s website, indicates that City Attorney Carmen Trutanich’s office has failed to satisfy any of the 66 recommendations Greuel had made, or begin working towards their implementation.
Recommendations made in 14 other audits are also still awaiting action, including Greuel’s review of citywide cell phone usage; the performance and finances of the Department of Transportation; energy conservation measures; citywide use of contracts for services; early payments to vendors; neighborhood council expenditures; and controls over city phone lines.
Each of these audits, however, include less than 23 recommendations, and most involve less than 10.
Only Greuel’s July 2010 “Blueprint for a Citywide Anti-Gang Strategy” involved more recommendations than those for Trutanich office, and Greuel said 99 percent of those recommendations are already implemented or in progress.
The city attorney spokesperson on Friday emphasized that the office “invited the controller to come in and audit the workers’ compensation division” when Trutanich took office in 2009.
“We have a very good working relationship with the controller,” he said, and the office has been sending periodic updates to Greuel, most recently, in mid-August.
The spokesperson said “we’ve been working hard to make those reforms…and certainly feel we’ve made significant progress.”
Greuel’s 2010 audit of the program revealed that the office’s failure to collect from third parties responsible for employee injuries may have cost the city more than $3 million each year. She also said the audit found that the office took too long to settle cases and diverted attorneys to other projects, weakening its ability to effectively represent the city in workers’ compensation cases.
Copyright 2011, Metropolitan News Company