Calabasas councilman will introduce additional municipal reforms

By Michael Picarella Acorn Staff Writer

More municipal reforms might be on the way for Calabasas.

City Councilman Barry Groveman said he’ll introduce new proposals at next Wednesday’s city council meeting. Groveman said he wants more efficiency in city hall.

In April, when Groveman first took office, he presented and the council passed a nine-page packet of initiatives that have already reshaped operations in Calabasas city government.

The reforms led to a new planning commission; councilmembers became liaisons and took specific responsibilities in assigned areas; and the city required new service contracts for legal, scientific, design, architectural, accounting and financial services. The reforms also dictated that such positions are to be renewed and re-bid every two years.

There were other reforms, too.

The initiatives, said Groveman in a recent interview, "build upon the initial proposals, which were adopted April 9. Above all, I wanted to improve efficiency and reduce waste, and it’s been working. I said then that there would be need for augmentation and I just felt that the time is critical to add a few now."

The reforms that Groveman will propose to the council next week are subject to change. Groveman said he wants feedback and input from both his fellow councilmem-bers and the public.

The following are expected to be among Groveman’s initiatives:

1. No duty, power or responsibility conveyed within the city would be altered or modified in any way without a resolution or other written approval by the council.

"To me, this is a restatement of what should’ve already been obvious, but wasn’t," Groveman said. The goal, he said, is to assure that the duties of the city manager, city attorney or other officials are clear and cannot be revised without council consent.

2. The finance director would be replaced with a new position called "chief financial officer" and have greater responsibilities. The CFO would report to the council rather than the city manager. (The existing job description calls for the finance director to report through the city manager).

Groveman said the change would be for a one-year trial period (to be re-evaluated by the council). It could revert, if necessary, after one year.

3. The city council would reaffirm a policy that says the city manager can spend no more than $10,000 without council approval. And the city manager couldn’t take, for example, a $30,000 contract and authorize three separate payments of $10,000. This would apply to any loans or transfers from the general fund.

4. The city manager and the city attorney would update the municipal code and include important policies into one document known as the "City of Calabasas Policy, Protocol and Procedures Manual." This document would be available to the public.

At this time, if a citizen or city official wants to know details of a procedure or protocol, a staff member must look it up and get back with an answer, according to Groveman. With a manual, anyone can find out for himself.

5. In response to inadequate oversight, lack of procedures and poor financial accounting of the landscape management districts, according to Groveman, the city council would appoint a committee of five citizens and the city attorney to develop and propose a complete overhaul and restructuring of the financial, accounting and oversight of the landscape management districts. This would, according to Groveman, restore confidence and accountability. If this reform passes, candidates for committees could apply immediately.

6. The city’s finance department would immediately propose alternatives to the current warrant register—the city’s checkbook—to clearly identify expenses, the purposes of expenditures and the department head or individual who authorized payment. The bookkeeping system would also identify and justify expenditures, making sure they were in compliance with the city’s budget, according to Groveman.

The current warrant register, Groveman said, provides inadequate information.

"My view on the warrant register is—and this is important to me—it’s impossible to limit waste if there are no budgets and you are unable to identify the source of waste or more efficient ways of operating," Groveman said. "These initiatives are aimed at putting in place a tracking system, which attaches expenditures to departments, commissions and other areas of city government that rely on services without regard to cost."

7. The city manager and the finance department would investigate and report back to the council on the feasibility of time sheets and implementation of billing codes that would be assigned to each department, commission and councilmember for the purpose of tracking contract services.

8. Commissions would be required to identify ways to save money and to develop budgets that city staff, consultants and the city attorney could use.

"At a time when the state budget is so visibly in crisis—$38 billion in debt—which is threatening significant fiscal impacts upon local government, Calabasas has the sophistication and the resources to be a model city; to display good judgment, fiscal management and innovative ideas," Groveman said.

His initiatives would lay the groundwork, he said, to overcoming the almost inevitable budget cuts that are coming from the state.