Audit Report
Received by Audit
Committee
Audit Report
Received by
City Council
Moss Adams Observations Moss Adams Recommendations Did the City Agree? Status Completion Date/ Estimated Completion Date
While the City has established many policies that
are aligned with best practices, there are
opportunities to increase the effectiveness of
current policies.
Continue current efforts to implement the City Council Procedures Manual and hold meeting participants accountable.
Yes Completed Council Procedure Manual (Resolution No. 24‐ 024) reviewed/updated in March 2024
With the adoption of the City Council Procedures
Manual and other recent changes, the City has
made positive progress toward increasing the
effectiveness of City Council meetings. However,
ongoing challenges remain to ensure that meetings
are productive and timely.
Continue current efforts to implement the City Council Procedures Manual and hold meeting participants accountable.
Yes Ongoing Council Procedures Manual (Resolution No. 24‐ 024) reviewed/updated in March 2024.
Implemented 5 minutes per item per Council
member for discussion and deliberation.
(Procedures Manual Section 8.83)
There is a well‐documented history of mistrust and
poor communication between the Council and
management.
A. Continue current efforts to implement recommendations from the 2023 Internal Review, with a focus on expanding the use of 1:1 pre‐meetings with Council members
B. In alignment with Municipal Code guidelines, consider developing and implementing a set of practical criteria to determine when requests for information will require a significant allocation of staff time or otherwise exceed the code guidelines.
C. Continue current efforts to clarify roles and responsibilities and build productive working relationships by providing regular governance trainings and retreats.
Yes Ongoing Recommendation A: City Manager has Bi‐Weekly one‐on‐one meetings with each Council member.
In addition, significant Council reports City
Manager and City Staff have Council briefings on
the Friday before each Council meeting to review
the items and answer questions.
Recommendation B: currently in the muni code
section 2.17.043 Timely Response; and the
Council Procedures Manual Section 6.6
Councilmember Access to Information.
Recommendation C: City Council Procedure
Manual adopted in February 2023 and
reviewed/updated in March 2024 (Resolution No.
24‐024) addresses Council‐staff relations. City
Council Training Session 1/12/24 and Council
Governance Workshop 11/14/23.
The City Council onboarding and orientation
process has recently been updated to increase its
effectiveness. This process could be further
strengthened by focusing additional attention on
roles, responsibilities, and practical application of
guidelines.
Take steps to expand and strengthen the orientation process for new Council members.
Yes. City staff prepared a more in‐depth onboarding
process as part of the onboarding of Council
members in 2023. Staff will continue to review this
process and make changes as necessary.
Ongoing Implemented after 2022 election; conducted full 2‐day orientation in 12/13/22 for incoming and
sitting Councilmembers.
The City has established many best practice
elements of a comprehensive ethics program.
However, there are gaps in the City’s compliance
enforcement.
Strengthen internal processes for tracking and holding elected and appointed individuals accountable to timely completion of Form 700 Disclosures.
Yes. City staff will work toward strengthening the
internal process for tracking and holding elected
and appointed individuals accountable.
Completed Revised Ethics Code adopted in November 2023; Resolution No. 24‐022 Governing Recruitment of
Advisory Bodies which mandates legally required
training or reporting requirements.
A core function of any governing body is to set and
monitor the strategic direction of the organization.
While the City Council has adopted a two‐year
Work Program to prioritize annual initiatives, it has
not yet developed a long‐range strategic plan.
A. Consider developing a long‐range strategic plan to increase the City’s ability to strategically plan and advance initiatives.
B. Continue current efforts to utilize and refine the annual Work Program prioritization practice.
C. Consider expanding the City’s reporting processes to more effectively track progress toward strategic goals over time
Yes. The City will explore creating a long‐range
strategic plan and continue current efforts on the
work plan.
In progress City Manager's Office will lead the council prioritization workshop in early 2025. This will
provide an opportunity for Council to revisit
strategic goals. Following this, the City Manager's
Office will engage with the Council to develop a
long‐term strategic plan for the City and a
mechanism to track progress.
As of 9/6/2023 Update as of 6/2024
2023 Enterprise Leadership Assessment
7/24/2023 9/6/2023
Audit Report
Received by Audit
Committee
Audit Report
Received by
City Council
Moss Adams Observations Moss Adams Recommendations Did the City Agree? Status Completion Date/ Estimated Completion Date
As of 9/6/2023 Update as of 6/2024
2023 Enterprise Leadership Assessment
While the City has established some strong
community engagement practices, interviewees
noted that Council members may have an
overreliance on anecdotal evidence and/or public
comment that may not be representative of the
wider community perspective.
A. Consider setting clearer expectations for the intended scope of community engagement at the start of City initiatives.
B. Continue current efforts to implement a statistically significant, representative community survey.
C. Consider providing media and crisis communication training to all Council members.
Yes. As recommended in the report on compliance
with the recommendations in the May 2023 Fact
Finding Report, Council may consider additional
procedural measures to attempt to focus
Councilmembers on their policy and decision‐
making responsibilities, as well as considering
procedural provisions or improvements to public
engagement processes to ensure community
engagement is more representative. In addition,
staff will be conducting a community survey in late
fall/early winter timeframe.
In progress City Manager's Office to lead the development of community engagement standards for
departments to follow. This is underway through
the Citywide Communications Group. City
Manager's Office to explore conducting a
community survey within the next 6‐12 months.
Media training was provided to all council
members and the executive team in November
2023.
The City utilizes multiple commissions and
committees to support Council decision‐making.
There are opportunities to increase the
effectiveness of some of these groups.
A. Establish charters, including clear roles and responsibilities, for each commission and committee that outline the group’s purpose and member roles and responsibilities.
B. Review additional opportunities to streamline governance groups.
C. Consider reviewing the names of governance groups to introduce a consistent naming convention for commission versus committee.
Yes. City staff will bring recommendations regarding
commissions and committees to increase their
effectiveness.
In progress Revisions to Commissioners' Handbook and
updates to commissioner appointment process
adopted in March 2024; A. Resolution No. 24‐022
Governing Recruitment of Advisory Bodies and
2024 Commissioners’ Handbook. (Resolution No.
24‐023)
The City has documented processes to select and
appoint community members to governance
groups. This process could be strengthened by
adding relevant qualification criteria.
Review and establish the qualification criteria for each commission and committee member to determine if the City would benefit from adjustments Yes In progress Per Council direction in March 2024, City Manager's Office to develop qualifications
criteria for commission appointments, consistent
with March 2024 policy changes.
Commission and committee operations including
onboarding, meeting procedures, work plans, and
reporting—are not always consistent or effective
A. Continue efforts to expand and formalize onboarding and training expectations for both commissions and committees.
B. Clarify the process and expectation for cancelling unnecessary meetings.
C. Consider adopting the practice of requiring annual work plans for each commission and committee
Management agrees with the observation and
recommendations A and B and will continue efforts
were recommended and work toward clarifying
meeting cancellation procedures.
City staff does not agree with (recommendation C)
that adopting annual work plan for the committees
and commissions would be effective. As previously
the City did have this process and it led to confusion
and misalignment with the Council workplan.
Ongoing Recommendation A: 2024 Commissioners’
Handbook (Resolution No. 24‐023) page 5
Quorum, Attendance, training, and reporting.
Recommendation B: 2024 Commissioners’
Handbook (Resolution No. 24‐023) page 6
Regular Meetings cancellation provision.
The staff time used to support governance groups
represents a significant investment of City
resources.
A. Review the practice of requesting department directors attend commission and committee meetings.
B. Provide training for staff liaisons annually and when a new individual takes on the liaison role.
Department directors play a critical role in the
function of their department and necessarily need
to understand the recommendations of
Commissions and Committees on department
functions.
Staff agrees with recommendation B (added for
clarity as it was not clearly identified in the original staff report).
In progress Implemented annual/semiannual training for staff liaisons conducted by the City Clerk/City
Attorney/City Manager.
7/24/2023 9/6/2023
Audit Report
Received by Audit
Committee
Audit Report
Received by
City Council
Moss Adams Observations Moss Adams Recommendations Did the City Agree? Status Completion Date/ Estimated Completion Date
As of 9/6/2023 Update as of 6/2024
2023 Enterprise Leadership Assessment
7/24/2023 9/6/2023 City staff continue to experience a high degree of organizational change and uncertainty. Within this
context, it is critical for the City’s management
team to provide active communication and change
management to increase support of staff.
Identify and implement expanded communication and change management practices to improve workplace culture
Yes. Management will begin discussions on
strategies for active communication and change
management as part of the Department Head
retreat on August 30, 2023.
Ongoing Implemented with quarterly all employee town
halls with CM. Leadership Team meets every
month for strategic conversations around
organizational development and communication.
DCM and department heads are meeting with
department staff on a regular basis. Citywide
employee appreciation events have been
planned and executed. HR is bringing mid‐
managers together each quarter.