Last week, accountant Larry Kanter made a presentation to the council. You may recall that Kanter was hired two years ago to do what was then called a \u201ctransitional audit,\u201d the terms of which remain somewhat indefinite.<\/p>\n
To be clear, Kanter confirmed that he has found no wrongdoing.\u00a0 No money is missing, nothing\u2019s been taken.\u00a0 Nonetheless, Kanter repeatedly engaged in inflammatory, unsubstantiated speculation regarding things that could have<\/em> happened. \u00a0Kanter disparaged prior management and was effusive in extolling the virtues of current management.\u00a0 For its part, council played along, acting shocked and joining in the unsubstantiated speculation of what could have happened in the past.<\/p>\n The purpose of this exercise became clearer on Friday, when Kanter\u2019s theme was carried into our Town\u2019s newsletter.\u00a0 Meier adopted his clever \u201cpast\/present\u201d catchphrases, suggesting that he and his cadre had arrived just in time to save Addison from what he assures everyone was just a terrible past.<\/p>\n But here\u2019s the thing: the past was GREAT.\u00a0 Addison was the gold standard before Meier arrived, with a strong reputation as a unique and innovative community.\u00a0 Don\u2019t believe me, just walk around and look at our Health Club, our many parks, our vast hiking trails, the Vitruvian development, Addison Circle, our theater, our conference center and the extraordinary park\/special events space directly across the street.\u00a0 Consider the many special events held on that space, look at the vibrant restaurant and retail presence, tour our airport and the Cavanaugh Flight Museum.\u00a0 Honestly, the list goes on and on.\u00a0 How can Meier credibly attack the past in the face of what you see around you every day in Addison?<\/p>\n The fact is that Addison\u2019s past consisted of a very successful council\/management collaboration that resulted in responsible budgeting, actual transparency, superior services, stable, talented and innovative staff, and councils that believed in true service to the community.\u00a0 Our taxes were almost 30% lower just five years ago, and our councils didn\u2019t politicize the tax rate.\u00a0 Nor did any past council ever set our tax rate above the rollback rate, as this council has, for the first time in Addison\u2019s history.<\/p>\n So why the revisionist history?\u00a0 And why now?<\/p>\n The timing of Kanter\u2019s presentation and his one-sided attacks on prior management can only be characterized as political, because here\u2019s what you weren\u2019t told:<\/p>\n Kanter\u2019s complaints about an alleged lack of cooperation by management were made them more than a year ago.\u00a0 And, Kanter\u2019s claims were refuted<\/u> by management \u2013 in writing \u2013 also more than a year ago<\/strong>.<\/p>\n That\u2019s right, Kanter\u2019s non-cooperation allegations are old news<\/em>.\u00a0 And, management had plenty to say about all of it.\u00a0 And yet you heard nothing about any of that last week, either from Kanter or from Meier.\u00a0 So, why are they bringing it up now, more than a year after it played out, without mentioning management\u2019s perspective?\u00a0 On the eve of the election season?\u00a0 Well, the questions answer themselves, don\u2019t they?\u00a0 How do you feel about this council politicizing Addison\u2019s finances?<\/p>\n It\u2019s also important to know that we\u2019ve tried to get the documents in which we believe management\u2019s views about Kanter are expressed.\u00a0 In fact, request has been made to review Kanter\u2019s work papers, including documents relating to this \u201cnon-cooperation\u201d dispute with management.\u00a0 But Addison\u2019s current regime has actively concealed the overwhelming majority of these documents from the public.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 That concealment has prevented the truth from being heard, and it also paved the way for Kanter to say whatever he wanted to in his presentation.\u00a0 And of course he did, with Meier and others sitting gleefully silent while Kanter did their dirty work by trashing former management.<\/p>\n You have to ask: if the facts are as they claim, why are they hiding unquestionably relevant documents?\u00a0 If prior management\u2019s conduct is truly indefensible, why not allow their input and perspective to be heard?\u00a0 Indeed, how could last week\u2019s presentation ever be seen as a sincere quest for the truth, when it was orchestrated to exclude significant and important facts absolutely necessary to get the whole picture?<\/p>\n Here\u2019s another important question: Where were Addison\u2019s auditors during this discussion or, for that matter, where was any reference to their work?\u00a0 The fact is that Addison has received clean audits for years<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 Addison\u2019s financial reporting has also received Comprehensive Financial Report awards from the Government Finance Officers Association (\u201cGFOA\u201d) for 37 years<\/strong><\/em>, and the Budget Award for 26 years<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 These awards involve critical review and examination from the GFOA, and they are important to Addison\u2019s reputation.\u00a0 Addison\u2019s staff has worked hard to build and maintain that reputation, only to see it publicly attacked by its own council.<\/p>\n So are we now elevating Kanter to some sort of supreme status that trumps Addison\u2019s real auditors?\u00a0 This man who made a point of trashing Addison\u2019s former management as if on cue?<\/p>\n Let\u2019s look at it from another angle.\u00a0 Putting aside the question of how far afield we now are from anything that could be characterized as a \u201ctransitional audit,\u201d should any accounting professional who is hired to evaluate anything in Addison, stand up and publicly attack or<\/em> compliment management?\u00a0 Shouldn\u2019t every accounting professional be focused on issues<\/em>, not people<\/em>?\u00a0 And, to be truly objective, don\u2019t they have to acknowledge the position of management, particularly if it refutes claims being made by the accounting professional?<\/p>\n Here is what the American Institute of CPA\u2019s (\u201cAICPA\u201d) Code of Professional Conduct says about these issues:<\/p>\n \u201cIntegrity requires a member to be, among other things, honest and candid within the constraints of client confidentiality. Service and the public trust should not be subordinated to personal gain and advantage. Integrity can accommodate the inadvertent error and honest difference of opinion; it cannot accommodate deceit or subordination of principle.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIntegrity is measured in terms of what is right and just. In the absence of specific rules, standards, or guidance or in the face of conflicting opinions, a member should test decisions and deeds by asking: \u2018Am I doing what a person of integrity would do? Have I retained my integrity?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIntegrity also requires a member to observe the principles of objectivity and independence and of due care.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe principle of objectivity imposes the obligation to be impartial, intellectually honest, and free of conflicts of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRegardless of service or capacity, members should protect the integrity of their work, maintain objectivity, and avoid any subordination of their judgment.\u201d<\/p>\n No matter who you may like or dislike, you have to be concerned about any accounting professional who publicly disparages or<\/em> praises management as Kanter did.\u00a0 How can any such individual claim to be impartial or objective?\u00a0 But it goes deeper: when Kanter failed to even mention that prior management refuted the very allegations he was making, can anyone credibly argue that Kanter was being intellectually honest?\u00a0 We submit that Addison\u2019s residents deserve \u2013 and should demand \u2013 more from those being paid with our tax dollars, including compliance with the referenced AICPA principles.<\/p>\n And, exactly what is a \u201ctransitional audit\u201d?\u00a0 It never seems to be defined or explained, other than it never seems to end.\u00a0 Indeed, Kanter\u2019s work appears to have morphed into some type of examination of Addison\u2019s processes, hardly the work of an \u201caudit.\u201d\u00a0 Certainly, if the council wanted to examine Addison\u2019s processes, it could have set such an examination as a priority by putting it in the budget and undertaking the work in a systematic, organized way.\u00a0 That would have included taking bids for the work and finding a competitive and fixed price that makes sense.\u00a0 But that didn\u2019t happen and so, two years later, Kanter is still here and taxpayers are still paying for it.<\/p>\n Recognize the plight of the staff in all this.\u00a0 This council has consistently refused to deal with Addison\u2019s longstanding compensation issues.\u00a0 Among other things, that has left Addison understaffed, including in the Finance Department, which was never fully staffed during former CFO Eric Cannon\u2019s tenure.\u00a0 Even Kanter acknowledged the lack of staffing and the impact that has on the work of the Town.\u00a0 Those are predictable consequences of policy choices made by this council.\u00a0 Consider as well that since Meier has been mayor, this council has met more than ever before, for longer than before, and that\u2019s before you begin to consider the countless committee and other staff meetings.\u00a0 The staff is continually pressed beyond reasonable limits.<\/p>\n This also seems basic: If this council really wanted to make a sincere effort to make things work better and button-up processes, then the council could, should and would facilitate an organized process that is constructive, not vindictive.\u00a0 But that isn\u2019t what\u2019s happening.\u00a0 Kanter\u2019s presentation was in large part a character assassination of everyone and everything that came before, a theme gleefully amplified in Meier\u2019s parades-as-a-newsletter missive.\u00a0 The focus was far more on people, and far less on issues.\u00a0 If you were an Addison employee, would you trust such a process or the people who orchestrated the debacle that passed for a meeting last week?<\/p>\n Remember as well that the council is prohibited by Charter from directing the activities of staff.\u00a0 They can only deal with the City Manager.\u00a0 In a very real sense, the arrangement with Kanter now circumvents that prohibition.\u00a0 From what we hear, Kanter regularly interrupted staff by demanding information and explanations, and when he was provided with information, he often didn\u2019t understand it, given his limited experience with municipalities.\u00a0 On the latter point, if you watch the video, Kanter was asked about his experience with municipal courts, and he ducked the question, vaguely answering that he had \u201cbeen involved in other court systems.\u201d\u00a0 You have to wonder how any of it was ever meant to be a constructive effort to improve Addison in any way.<\/p>\n And here\u2019s the thing about the \u201cpast\/present\u201d comparison: it\u2019s not Addison\u2019s past that is a mess.\u00a0 The mess is staring us straight in the face.\u00a0 Don\u2019t believe me, just consider the numbers.\u00a0 In the five years Meier has been mayor, taxes are up a staggering 28.8%.\u00a0 Meier and his cadre have overspent the budget in both of the last 2 years, by a total of almost $2 million.<\/p>\n Meier also orchestrated a one-cent tax rate decrease in last year\u2019s budget, but failed to mention that it was actually funded from Addison\u2019s reserves.\u00a0 Many of us expressed concern at that time about the mismanagement of the tax rate, and its use as a campaign issue.\u00a0 We were right on both counts: Meier touted the tax rate decrease in his no-opponent campaign (never mentioning the increases in taxes) and, as if on cue, this year\u2019s tax rate was set above the rollback rate the first time in Addison\u2019s history.<\/p>\n And of course, we all witnessed the debacle of the Sam\u2019s redevelopment, when Meier and 4 others ignored the clear will of the majority of the community, insulted that majority by calling it \u201cmisinformed,\u201d conducted no financial analysis of the project, and then voted to donate $6.5 million dollars of taxpayer money without any clue where it\u2019s coming from.<\/p>\n All that\u2019s before you get to the decimation of our staff, including the mass exodus of senior key employees, many of whom have cited the toxic, accusatory, hostile atmosphere Meier has created.\u00a0 Last week Meier touted his new \u201ctone at the top\u201d theme.\u00a0 But if he really wants to get to the bottom of problems with a poor \u201ctone at the top,\u201d Meier probably ought to look right in the mirror.\u00a0 Meier\u2019s heavy-handed, dictatorial approach is not designed to help Addison succeed.<\/p>\n So, before you rush to adopt the disparagement of prior staff and management, do some critical thinking and ask yourself why Kanter, Meier and perhaps others on the council have so willingly omitted the critical perspective of prior staff and management.\u00a0 Why are they hiding the facts and actively concealing documents that are obviously necessary in order to understand the truth about Kanter\u2019s work and his allegations of non-cooperation?\u00a0 And why would any self-respecting accounting professional make such inflammatory and unsubstantiated insinuations about prior staff and management?\u00a0 Kanter unquestionably injected himself into the political landscape, lending his credentials to Meier\u2019s latest clever theme, and we urge that that was a significant error that has to taint his participation in any review of Addison\u2019s processes, if that is what this has now become.<\/p>\n And again, why now?\u00a0 If the dispute between Kanter and prior management over alleged \u201cnon-cooperation\u201d is well over a year old, WHY NOW?<\/p>\n One last thing: this author has now submitted a very specific demand for the documents relating to Kanter\u2019s claims of a lack of cooperation.\u00a0 Now that Addison\u2019s council has publicly joined issue on this point, including by disparaging prior management and purporting to quote what they said, Addison can\u2019t possibly claim that the public isn\u2019t entitled to know all<\/em> the facts.\u00a0 And, this author has also requested Kanter\u2019s timesheets.\u00a0 Among other things, this will tell us whether Kanter has been communicating directly with members of council.\u00a0 Stay tuned, this could get very interesting.<\/p>\n Wherever you may fall in this now-divided Addison, we would all have to agree on this: Kanter\u2019s presentation and Meier\u2019s ready adoption of it have tarnished Addison\u2019s reputation, and that is disgraceful, unjustified, irresponsible and inexcusable.\u00a0 Addison\u2019s residents deserve far better from their elected representatives.<\/p>\n