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Page 2 of 4 <br />City of Redwood City 1017 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA. 94063 Tel: 650-780-7000 www.redwoodcity.org <br />establishing mechanisms for holding individuals accountable for internal control responsibilities, <br />which naturally include the oversight body and management <br />establishing performance measures for all levels of the organization <br />performing timely evaluations and aligning incentives with the fulfillment of internal control <br />responsibilities. <br />Further, the report asserts: “All governing bodies and its management have basic responsibilities <br />regarding internal controls, even if the State Guidelines do not specifically refer to those basic <br />responsibilities. Those responsibilities naturally include: <br />Oversight boards must demonstrate its oversight of management’s internal controls, such as clear <br />and timely reporting on its review of internal controls <br />Management’s reports on internal controls should be clearly and readily available to the public <br />Management must be evaluated for its assessments of internal controls and its external reporting.” <br />The report states that: the Grand Jury surveyed 75 entities, including municipalities, school districts, <br />independent special districts and joint power authorities; responses were received from 54 entities; <br />eighteen entities responded that they had performed an assessment of internal controls in the prior 18 <br />months; four entities responded that they prepared a report regarding assessments of internal controls. <br />The Grand Jury report is included as Attachment A. <br />Within 90 days after the Grand Jury submits a report regarding the operations of any public agency, <br />California Penal Code §933(c) provides the “Governing body of the public agency shall comment to the <br />presiding judge of the Superior Court on the findings and recommendations pertaining to matters under <br />the control of the governing body…”. In this instance, the response is due no later than September 25, <br />2024. <br />ANALYSIS <br />The report cites examples of fraud and waste found in some government entities other than Redwood <br />City, and notes that a city’s governing city council and city management set the tone at the top and <br />throughout the organization by their example. In Redwood City, integrity is called out as one of the <br />organization’s core values and, through an inclusive engagement of city employees, Redwood City staff <br />recently affirmed their commitment to the value of integrity by adopting the statement, “Do the right <br />thing, not the easy thing.” <br />The report presents three Findings and makes three Recommendations. The report instructs many <br />jurisdictions to respond to all six Findings and Recommendations; however, the report instructs the City <br />of Redwood City to only respond to Findings 2 and 3 and Recommendations 2 and 3. Staff has reviewed <br />the Grand Jury’s Findings and Recommendations and has prepared a letter (Attachment B) for the Mayor’s <br />signature that responds to the Grand Jury Report. The findings and recommendations, along with the <br />City’s proposed response are provided below. <br />6.C. - Page 2 of 22 <br />81