Internal auditor says previous audits sugar coated

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published January 23, 2006 at 9:00 PM PST

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

San Diego city council accepted a report from the city's internal auditor that revealed massive misinformation came out of the previous auditor's office. The lack of internal controls led to decision

San Diego city council accepted a report from the city's internal auditor that revealed massive misinformation came out of the previous auditor's office. The lack of internal controls led to decisions that contributed to the city's billion dollar pension deficit.
KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

The council struggled with the question of how to avoid getting sugar coated information about the state of the city's finances in the future. Internal auditor John Torell said one key is to remove undue political pressure on the auditor's office.

Torell: "You could have the greatest processes in the world, and if I was told, hey this is a little harsh you should gloss over the pension situation, what am I gonna do? I know what I would do, but it's the control environment, it's the tone at the top is what you're speaking about."

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Torell suggested several options to strengthen the auditor's independence, such as making the job an elected position. However, the mayor's office prefers to create a climate of openness where employees can speak freely without fear of retribution. At city hall, Alison St John, KPBS news.

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.