Overtime pay for firefighters at the Austin Fire Department will reach about $21 million by the end of this fiscal year on Sept. 30 – a 206 percent increase since Fiscal Year 2013-14 – according to a report put out this week by the Office of the City Auditor in response to a request from […]
Office of the City Auditor
This city department is created by the city’s charter in order to establish and ensure “accountability transparency, and a culture of continuous improvement in city operations.”
Posted inCity Hall
Ethics panel reluctantly approves final hearing for former police monitor
The city’s Ethics Review Commission voted Wednesday to move to a final hearing over whether former police monitor Margo Frasier violated city ordinance by using her city computer for activity related to a private consulting business she ran. The commission voted 8-3 to find that there were “reasonable grounds” that Frasier violated a section of […]
Posted inCity Hall
Ethics complaints filed on two city commissioners
Nathan Wiebe, chief of investigations for the Office of the City Auditor, filed two complaints with the city’s Ethics Review Commission this week against members of advisory commissions. Wiebe filed a complaint against Isabel López-Aguilar, a member of the Hispanic/Latino Quality of Life Resource Advisory Commission and program coordinator at the Latino HealthCare Forum. The […]
Posted inCity Hall
Ethics complaint filed against ex-city employee
Nathan Wiebe, chief of investigations for the Office of the City Auditor, filed a complaint with the city’s Ethics Review Commission on Monday against a retired Austin Energy supervisor. In the complaint, Wiebe laid out a case against Stefan Sasko, who retired from his position as distribution electrician supervisor in January of this year. Wiebe […]
Posted inCity Hall
Second Austin Energy employee investigated
For the second time this month, the Office of the City Auditor has released a report alleging that an Austin Energy employee has misused his computer, email account and telephone to work on his secondary employment. According to an investigation report released Friday, Brent Curry, an information technology geospatial analyst who has worked for the […]
Posted inFire
Auditors to look at firefighters’ overtime
After considerable complaint from its newest members, Jimmy Flannigan and Alison Alter, City Council voted last month to amend the city’s General Fund budget by transferring $3.5 million from a stabilization reserve fund into the Austin Fire Department’s budget to pay for overtime expenses. Council on Thursday directed the Office of the City Auditor to look […]
Posted inCity Hall
Is audit trouble for Austin Energy employee?
The City Auditor’s Integrity Unit has found evidence that Austin Energy employee Steven Salinas solicited and accepted employment from developers over whose projects he had discretionary authority in his position as a lead electric distribution designer. However, while auditors found evidence that Salinas had worked as a contractor on various projects over which he had […]
Posted inCity Hall
Complaint filed against former police monitor
The Office of the City Auditor has filed an ethics complaint against Austin’s former police monitor, Margo Frasier, alleging that she used her city computer for her outside consulting practice and that such use was a violation of the city’s Code of Ethics. Nathan Wiebe, chief of investigations for the auditor’s office, filed the complaint […]
Posted inCity Council
Auditor’s report: Affordability data incomplete
According to a special report from the Office of the City Auditor, information about city programs and initiatives that affect affordability for Austinites is inconsistent, may be unreliable or incomplete and may not be readily accessible. In addition, auditors found that city programs “may have unanticipated effects on affordability” and that the city has historically […]
Posted inCity Hall
Audit finds misuse of city resources
Two employees of Austin Water are facing possible disciplinary actions after an investigation by the Office of the City Auditor found that they used city computers for work on their secondary employment. Reports from both investigations demonstrate how difficult it may be for city employees with demanding jobs who have other jobs or careers to […]
Posted inCity Hall
Auditors find waste, cover-up at Fleet Services
Employees of the city’s Fleet Services Department made mistakes in ordering a new pursuit vehicle for the Austin Police Department, receiving instead an SUV that neither APD nor any other department wanted. That error ending up costing the city approximately $45,000, according to a special report by the Office of the City Auditor. In addition […]
Posted inCity Hall
Discrimination, retaliation cases climbing
During the past three years, the number of allegations related to harassment, discrimination and retaliation received by the city auditor’s investigative unit has more than doubled, according to data released by the Office of the City Auditor this week. However, because investigating those types of allegations is not part of the office’s defined role in […]