City's Response to the State Audit

Since the release of State Audit in Ozark, many citizens have voiced concerns about the city's blasé response.

Steve Childers wrote an article in this weeks CC Headliner and I want to give him some credit. This article seems to have a different tone that other statements we have seen come out of city hall, especially regarding the audit.

He speaks in an honest and sincere way about the mistakes Ozark has made in the past. He is also specific about changes that have have been made to address many of the issues.

I knew from the beginning that Steve and the staff were taking this audit seriously and working hard to make a lot of wrongs right. I think this message, unlike some previous ones, accurately depicts the city's attitude towards the audit and dedication to correcting the problems.

Learning from audit, preparing for future
By: Steve Childers, Ozark city administrator
Published:
Wednesday, June 3, 2009 12:05 AM CDT
I would like to take the opportunity to respond to the public regarding the recent audit report of the city of Ozark. Even though much of the criticism leveled acknowledges occurrences prior to my position as city administrator, now it is up to me to explain.

Adequate documentation may not exist that will thoroughly explain to me, or allow me to explain to all of you, the reasons why past decisions were made, certain actions were or were not taken, or why proper accountability procedures were not previously in place; and although I don’t plan on making excuses for the past, I do feel strongly that rather than dwelling on it we should use it to our advantage as a road map to implementing proper processes and procedures that avoid new shortcomings in the future.


It’s important for the citizenry of Ozark to know that even before the state auditors arrived, myself and staff had already identified many of the shortfalls and were in the process of implementing new procedures to correct them. For example, a capital asset management policy was put in place May 2008; an internal control policy for cash handling was put in place January 2009; and the first comprehensive employee manual including credit card, e-mail, vehicle usage, and many other policies mentioned in the audit will be in place within the next 30-60 days.

The Board of Aldermen and Ozark Park Board will quickly begin scheduling meetings to work on park and recreation related matters, and staff is diligently working on advancing the progress of the Finley River District redevelopment project.

Neither Mayor Jackson nor I intend to downplay the seriousness of the audit findings; rather we would like to bring into perspective that, “That was then and this is now.”

Therefore, the approach we will be taking is to gain knowledge from the past so to achieve the highest level of professionalism regarding record management, accounting practices, improved public access to information via Internet and all other fiduciary related responsibilities.

I am confident in saying you have a dedicated mayor, board of aldermen and staff that are committed to progressively and responsibly advancing our community. I am also confident in letting you know that I will never give less than an all-out effort to approach my responsibilities as your city administrator with integrity, honesty and a unbridled belief in building a sustainable and strong community for everyone.

If you ever have a question or concern, don’t hesitate to call the Ozark City Hall at (417) 581-2407 and ask to speak to me personally.

Steven Childers is the Ozark City Administrator.