Number
171524
Version
SUBSTITUTE 2
Reference
Sponsor
ALD. STAMPER, ZIELINSKI, PEREZ, BORKOWSKI, LEWIS, COGGS, HAMILTON, MURPHY, KOVAC, RAINEY, AND JOHNSON
Title
Substitute resolution directing the City Clerk’s Office to prepare and issue a request for proposals to conduct a comprehensive operations audit of the Health Department.
Analysis
This resolution directs the City Clerk’s Office to prepare and issue a request for proposals to conduct a comprehensive audit of the Health Department’s operations and finances over the past five years (2013-2017). The selected auditor shall provide monthly progress reports on the audit to the Steering and Rules Committee and a comprehensive report of findings within 90 days.
Body
Whereas, Common Council members have expressed concerns over the adequacy and accuracy of data provided by the Milwaukee Health Department in relation to its operations and programs; and
Whereas, Repeated attempts by Common Council members, including the chair of the Public Safety and Health Committee, to evaluate the effectiveness of Health Department-run programs have been met by obstruction and even derision by representatives of the Health Department; and
Whereas, The failure of the Health Department to notify thousands of families that their children have tested positive for elevated levels of lead in their blood represents a catastrophic failure of the current administration; and
Whereas, An investigation by an independent third party would provide the information about the operations and finances of the Health Department and its programs that Common Council members have been seeking; and
Whereas, The Common Council is particularly interested in an identification, by race and aldermanic district, of the number of Milwaukee children identified to have elevated blood lead levels, the number of families that were inadequately informed about the results of blood lead testing, and the number of children that did and did not receive treatment or lead abatement to their living environments to address elevated blood lead levels; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, By the Common Council of the City of Milwaukee, that the City Clerk’s Office is directed to prepare and issue a request for proposals to conduct a comprehensive audit of the Health Department’s operations and finances over the past five years (2013-2017); and, be it
Further Resolved, That respondents shall have 20 days from the issuance of the request for proposals to provide their proposals to the City Clerk’s Office; and, be it
Further Resolved, That a second resolution shall be presented at a later date which will direct the City Clerk to execute an audit agreement with the best-ranked respondent and which will establish and fund a special purpose account for paying the contract costs; and, be it
Further Resolved, That any audit agreement shall require the auditor to report the findings of a comprehensive audit of the Health Department’s operations and finances over the past five years to the Common Council within 90 days of execution of an audit agreement, but any audit agreement shall also include terms for extending the length of the audit beyond 90 days if significant issues requiring additional investigation or analysis are uncovered; and, be it
Further Resolved, That any audit agreement shall require the auditor to provide monthly progress reports to the Steering and Rules Committee for the duration of the audit.
Requestor
Drafter
LRB170670-3
Dana J. Zelazny
January 22, 2018