Dear City Council Candidates and Prospective Candidates:
Several years ago, the Culver City hired Moss Adams LLP as its Internal Auditor, and commissioned a related report.
The report recommended the establishment of an independently managed fraud, waste, and abuse (FWA) system, which included a hotline. An accompanying internal survey revealed concerns among staff regarding potential misconduct, with little accountability. The report languished.
Subsequently, my wife and I made efforts to cause Culver City to implement the FWA system recommended by Moss Adams. We later discovered that former City Attorney Carol Schwab and former Chief Financial Officer Onyx Jones made secret modifications that compromised the proposed FWA system’s independence by redirecting operations through their departments. This resulted in the administration of the system by individuals lacking independence and sufficient experience in this area.
Amidst the challenges to attending City Council meetings posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the City Council approved a less-than-independent FWA system. Additionally, the services provided by Moss Adams as the City’s Internal Auditor were allowed to expire without a new Internal Auditor being appointed.
The issue at hand is not a matter of politics, but rather one of transparency and integrity. The current system is not designed to effectively address fraud, waste and abuse in Culver City. While it may appear functional on the surface, Culver City is providing a false sense of security to the public. Further details and documentation regarding this situation can be found on my website. www.LGEsquire.com/Culver_City_Is_An_Ethical_Desert.html
We hope that your respective campaigns will bring attention to this issue, and if elected, that you will take steps to rectify the situation. As taxpayers, we cannot afford to ignore this any longer.
Les Greenberg, Esquire
