Will somebody please help this city?
The bad news just keeps getting worse for the City of Richmond: An audit released yesterday of 98,000 transactions valued at $2 billion found significant delays to vendors, insufficient and inconsistent documentation and unrecorded wire transfers, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. That report was presented alongside a second report, an assessment of Richmond’s fiscal sustainability that found that the city collects and spends 1 1/2 times the revenue per capita of benchmark localities.
“I look at it and say, ‘My gosh, we have a lot of inefficiencies here,’” said Ramon Brinkman, a member of the audit committee. “What could you save by reducing some of the expenses and give a little money back to the taxpayer?”
Richmond is an awesome city. It has wonderful people, great neighborhoods, historical architecture, vibrant businesses, a rich history, a multitude of museums, theaters, art galleries and cultural institutions, and one of the most beautiful rivers in the country. But it has a wasteful and inefficient city government that taxes too much and delivers too little in the way of municipal services.
Part of the city’s financial woes can be attributed to a flawed implementation of an $18 million RAPIDS financial system in 2013, which, according to the city’s deputy chief administrative officer, still suffers from “severe system limitations.” Another problem is the extensive staff turnover, insufficient training and heavy reliance upon inexperienced temps in the accounts receivable office. Those maladies, it would seem, are a reflection of poor management. Of course, there has been high turnover in senior staff positions as well, prompted no doubt by the frustrations encountered with the dismal organizational culture. Thus, the serpent swallows its tail in a never-ending loop of dysfunction.
Richmond has so much potential, but it will never live up to that potential until the city administration gets its act together. What will it take to make that happen? A mayor who makes organizational reform the unremitting focus of his or her attention over all other priorities.
— JAB
