An open letter to the citizens of San Antonio & Council
Pete Gonzales (photo)
Former City Auditor
Mayor, Council members, and citizens of San Antonio, I swore before you and Almighty God on May 2, 2007 to uphold the Office of The City Auditor. This solemn oath required me to maintain high ethical standards, work independently, and be free of both political pressure and management intervention.
The solemn oath I took was very similar to the oaths I took when I joined the United States Marine Corps in 1965 to defend this country and again when sworn in as audit manager with the USPS Office of Inspector General.
I proudly served my country then, and I applied the same principles and ideologies proudly serving as your city auditor during the past year.
When I took office May 2nd, 2007, the Office of the City Auditor:
• Was in shambles
• There was a 45 percent turnover rate
• Auditors were using old equipment
• There were no audits with financial/revenue recoveries
• Auditors were conducting only performance audits
• There was no leadership
• There was no vision.
By September 30, 2007, under my leadership we:
• Achieved 100 percent staffing in The Office of the City Auditor
• Acquired an audit staff with 55 percent holding Master’s degrees and 65 percent holding either one or a combination of CPAs, CIAs, and CFEs, making this the most highly qualified local government audit team in the state of Texas
• Established an infrastructure and chain of command.
• Established a positive work environment.
• Supplied the staff with new equipment.
• Recovered approximately $400,000 mainly due to overcharges.
• Promoted the professionalism of the Office of City Auditor
• Promoted the auditing profession and the City of San Antonio by engaging the audit staff in numerous city and university functions
• Convinced the 2010 National Association of Local Government Auditors Conference to meet in San Antonio
• Planned to have this Office become the number one internal audit office in the nation, not only adding value to the City, but also giving the citizens of San Antonio an audit team of which they can be proud
I would like to explain why I took the position I did on two issues.
1. Conducting performance audits was not outside the authority granted me by the Council. Since 2001 we have conduced 46 performance audits. In addition, within the past 11 months we completed the police audit (UCR), the Cultural Art Affairs and Golf Operations audits all of which were performance audits.
Currently, the Office of the City Auditor is performing the Asset Management and Nutrition audits, both of which are performance audits, both of which were approved in the 2008 Annual Audit Plan.
The charter should be updated to reflect the work performed by the Office of the City Auditor as it was directed and approved by the Council.
2. I believe initiating audits was not outside the authority granted me by the Council. The 2008 Approved Annual Audit plan, Section 2 of Resolution 2007-11-01-0017R states, "The Internal Auditor is hereby authorized at any time during Fiscal Year 2008 to make any and all adjustments to the Plan he deems necessary and appropriate in his sole discretion in order to accommodate any emergency or urgent audit requests, without further action by the City Council".
If this does not grant the Internal Auditor authority to initiate audits without council or subcommittee approval, as I believe it does, the section needs to be rewritten to clarify the authority and chain of command. The autonomy of the Office of The City Auditor must be maintained.
The importance of autonomy and independence is well understood by members of the auditing profession. Many members of the profession have written me conveying their hope that my departure will not usher in the demise of the independence of the Office of City Auditor.
Finally, I want to thank the Mayor, Council Members and the citizens of San Antonio for allowing me to serve them. I also thank the Council for approval of payment for my prestigious Harvard University Fellowship Program. As a San Antonio native, my sincere desire is that San Antonio prosper and be known as a world-class city. I have always performed my duties with that in mind and I will continue to seek the best for San Antonio.
God Bless San Antonio, and God Bless America.
Thank you,
Pete M. Gonzales, Jr., CPA, CFE
Former City Auditor
Mayor, Council members, and citizens of San Antonio, I swore before you and Almighty God on May 2, 2007 to uphold the Office of The City Auditor. This solemn oath required me to maintain high ethical standards, work independently, and be free of both political pressure and management intervention.
The solemn oath I took was very similar to the oaths I took when I joined the United States Marine Corps in 1965 to defend this country and again when sworn in as audit manager with the USPS Office of Inspector General.
I proudly served my country then, and I applied the same principles and ideologies proudly serving as your city auditor during the past year.
When I took office May 2nd, 2007, the Office of the City Auditor:
• Was in shambles
• There was a 45 percent turnover rate
• Auditors were using old equipment
• There were no audits with financial/revenue recoveries
• Auditors were conducting only performance audits
• There was no leadership
• There was no vision.
By September 30, 2007, under my leadership we:
• Achieved 100 percent staffing in The Office of the City Auditor
• Acquired an audit staff with 55 percent holding Master’s degrees and 65 percent holding either one or a combination of CPAs, CIAs, and CFEs, making this the most highly qualified local government audit team in the state of Texas
• Established an infrastructure and chain of command.
• Established a positive work environment.
• Supplied the staff with new equipment.
• Recovered approximately $400,000 mainly due to overcharges.
• Promoted the professionalism of the Office of City Auditor
• Promoted the auditing profession and the City of San Antonio by engaging the audit staff in numerous city and university functions
• Convinced the 2010 National Association of Local Government Auditors Conference to meet in San Antonio
• Planned to have this Office become the number one internal audit office in the nation, not only adding value to the City, but also giving the citizens of San Antonio an audit team of which they can be proud
I would like to explain why I took the position I did on two issues.
1. Conducting performance audits was not outside the authority granted me by the Council. Since 2001 we have conduced 46 performance audits. In addition, within the past 11 months we completed the police audit (UCR), the Cultural Art Affairs and Golf Operations audits all of which were performance audits.
Currently, the Office of the City Auditor is performing the Asset Management and Nutrition audits, both of which are performance audits, both of which were approved in the 2008 Annual Audit Plan.
The charter should be updated to reflect the work performed by the Office of the City Auditor as it was directed and approved by the Council.
2. I believe initiating audits was not outside the authority granted me by the Council. The 2008 Approved Annual Audit plan, Section 2 of Resolution 2007-11-01-0017R states, "The Internal Auditor is hereby authorized at any time during Fiscal Year 2008 to make any and all adjustments to the Plan he deems necessary and appropriate in his sole discretion in order to accommodate any emergency or urgent audit requests, without further action by the City Council".
If this does not grant the Internal Auditor authority to initiate audits without council or subcommittee approval, as I believe it does, the section needs to be rewritten to clarify the authority and chain of command. The autonomy of the Office of The City Auditor must be maintained.
The importance of autonomy and independence is well understood by members of the auditing profession. Many members of the profession have written me conveying their hope that my departure will not usher in the demise of the independence of the Office of City Auditor.
Finally, I want to thank the Mayor, Council Members and the citizens of San Antonio for allowing me to serve them. I also thank the Council for approval of payment for my prestigious Harvard University Fellowship Program. As a San Antonio native, my sincere desire is that San Antonio prosper and be known as a world-class city. I have always performed my duties with that in mind and I will continue to seek the best for San Antonio.
God Bless San Antonio, and God Bless America.
Thank you,
Pete M. Gonzales, Jr., CPA, CFE
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