Jacqueline Yaft, who recently resigned her job as CEO of the Austin Aviation Department, had a conflict of interest beginning in June 2019 when she went to work for the city, according to an investigative report from the Office of the City Auditor. Although she was required to inform the city of the conflict by […]
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
Audit claims fraud by contractor for city health department
In a report released Thursday, the Office of the City Auditor detailed its investigation into allegations that a nonprofit contractor for Austin Public Health “committed fraud by misrepresenting over $1.1 million in financial transactions across three contracts” with the health department between December 2020 and September 2021. The Central Texas Allied Health Institute (CTAHI) had […]
Posted inCity Hall
Former city employee allegedly stole, tried to sell city property
Investigators from the Austin Office of the City Auditor have released a report that shows a former employee of the Communications and Technology Management department “stole and attempted to sell a city-owned mobile device in December 2021.” That employee, Brian Cox, a former IT support analyst, resigned from the city in April 2022, thus avoiding […]
Posted inWater
Austin Water making progress but needs more employees
Members of City Council’s Audit and Finance Committee have reviewed the findings of a report detailing problems during four significant events at Austin Water’s Ullrich Water Treatment Plant between 2018 and February 2022, including three boil-water notices and a zebra mussel infestation. The utility has addressed many of those problems and is in the process […]
Posted inWater
UT report offers ‘roadmap’ for changes at Austin Water
In the wake of five incidents between 2018 and 2022 related to water quality problems, including three boil-water notices and a zebra mussel invasion, Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros resigned and City Council asked the city auditor to identify a group to study problems at the utility and report back. City Auditor Corrie Stokes led the […]
Posted inPublic Health
Audit shows flaws in city’s plans for cold weather shelters
An audit presented to the City Council Audit & Finance committee last week says the city is not keeping up with planning for cold weather shelters and that city staff have not received sufficient training in dealing with people seeking shelter during extreme cold. In addition, the city does not appear to be consistently following […]
Posted inCity Hall
Audit criticizes city’s services for older adults
The team from the Austin city auditor’s office scrutinizing services for aging adults found numerous problems with how the city communicates about its programs and lacks a plan for measuring the performance of those programs. Auditor-in-charge Kelsey Thompson reported on the findings to the Council Audit & Finance Committee Wednesday. According to a survey of […]
Posted inCity Hall
Council committee catches up before new animal shelter audit
Last week, City Council Audit and Finance Committee members heard an update on a 2015 audit of the Animal Services Department in preparation for a new audit initiated by City Council in July. The 2015 audit, which discovered some issues that have yet to be fixed, found that Animal Services lacked an effective process to […]
Posted inCity Hall
As employees return, complaints of fraud increase
Allegations of fraud, waste and abuse by city employees declined during 2020 and 2021 as a large number of employees worked from home. Brian Molloy, chief of the integrity unit at the Office of the City Auditor, told City Council’s Audit and Finance Committee on Wednesday that his division received 275 such complaints about city […]
Posted inCity Hall
City collisions cost more than $8 million over three years
City Council approved a payment last week of $82,500 to settle a lawsuit filed by Sherri Davis against the city and Austin Energy employee Stephen Tucker. Tucker is identified in the lawsuit as the driver of a city vehicle that struck Davis as she was walking in the crosswalk at the intersection of Friedrich Lane and […]
Posted inCity Hall
Parks supervisor resigns during inquiry into ethics allegations
A Parks and Recreation Department supervisor has resigned after running afoul of two ethics regulations. The fact that his supervisor misinterpreted one of the regulations likely compounded the problem. According to an audit released by the Office of the City Auditor, Jonathan Pixler violated regulations relating to a conflict of interest and also used city […]
Posted inRoads
Street cut follow-up audit shows progress on repairs
When a team from the Office of the City Auditor examined street cuts in 2017, they found a significant backlog in repairing the damaged areas left behind on streets when utility work is done by the city. Those damaged streets have been a concern both for city management and the general public. Last week, a new report […]