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Chattanooga: Clouds loom in city auditor debate

By: Cliff Hightower
(Contact)

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Stan Sewell

A debate is bubbling inside Chattanooga’s City Hall on whether the city auditor should report to the mayor, the City Council or both.

City Auditor Stan Sewell said Wednesday his office now reports to the mayor. But according to the City Charter, the auditor is supposed to report exclusively to the City Council.

In a proposed compromise, the auditor would report to both the mayor and the council, but that has ruffled some feathers.

“I’m not in support of a joint auditor,” Councilman Leamon Pierce said Wednesday. “The council should live up to (its) responsibilities.”

Mr. Pierce discovered the problem in April and brought it to the attention of council members. For the past two weeks, the City Council has been working on a change to the charter that would set up a three-person committee to oversee the auditing department. The new committee members would be the mayor, a council member and a member-at-large under the change.

Mr. Sewell, Mayor Ron Littlefield’s administration and some council members said they support the dual role because it would give more independence and strengthen the duties of the department as a watchdog.

“Twenty years from now, 50 years from now, 100 years from now, you will have something that protects the public,” Mr. Sewell said.

Mr. Pierce said giving the mayor’s office control of the auditor could pose problems.

“I can’t feel comfortable with an agency policing themselves,” he said.

Councilman Luther Shockley said he agreed.

“I have questions about the dual situation,” he said. “To me, it seems it would be hard for a person to respond to two different entities.”

For years, the auditor reported to the city’s chief finance officer, Mr. Sewell said. The department was expanded in 2005 and told to report directly to the mayor as a way to avoid any public conception of inappropriateness, Mr. Sewell said.

Dan Johnson, chief of staff for Mr. Littlefield, said Wednesday that reporting to both the council and the mayor is the best answer, and the administration supports that measure. He said they would not support the council taking full control.

Even if the council controls the auditor, the mayor would have his own internal auditor, which would be a problem in itself, Mr. Johnson said.

“The city of Chattanooga is not big enough for dual staffs,” he said. “I think there would be some problems on a management standpoint.”

Council Chairwoman Linda Bennett said she sees “some opinions on the council that would like a shift” from the mayor’s office to the council. The council debated details of the ordinance Tuesday during the Legal and Legislative Committee and could discuss the issue again next week, she said.

Ms. Bennett said she supports the dual role, which keeps council members informed and lets the mayor have the information to act on any discrepancies found by the department in other departments.

“That seems to be the highest level of objectivity and independence you can find,” Ms. Bennett said.

Council members are trying to get a change to the city charter drafted by Aug. 26 so they can vote on the measure and still have time to get it on the Nov. 4 state general election ballot as a public referendum, officials said.

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