Council Hires Embattled Firm to Handle 2011-12 Audit

The Fountain Valley City Council unanimously decided Tuesday night to hire embattled firm Mayer Hoffman McCann to handle the city's audit for the 2011-12 fiscal year.

Mayer Hoffman McCann came under scrutiny while serving as the auditing firm for the City of Bell during that city's infamous city government scandal. In a 3-2 vote last April, the council narrowly approved finishing out the city's contract with the firm rather than terminate the deal. Tuesday night, Jennifer Farr was on hand to speak on behalf of Mayer Hoffman McCann and address the council's concerns.

We've taken the criticism we've received on the City of Bell very seriously," Farr said. "We've taken steps to make sure this never happens again."

Farr told the council the firm has since hired a team of certified public accountant to oversee its audits, and reassured the council that no one from the auditing team that handled Bell's audits was involved with those in Fountain Valley. The firm lost about a third of its clients after the scandal, Farr said, but has since picked up new ones, including several cities.

"Some people had to react because it was a political issue," she said. "But city governements largely know the quality of our work."

The council also appoved an urgency ordinance finalizing its amended contract with the California Public Employees Retirement System. Under the amended deal, the pensions rate for newly hired sworn firefighters will be reduced from 3 percent to 50 years of age to 2 percent. Management anaylast Karyn Johnson told the council that with four openings in the department and two retirements on the horizon, getting the pension deal done was vital to maintaining the city's public safety and health standards.

In other business, the council:

• approved a rezoning of property at 12183 Edinger Ave. from agricultural to single-family residential; and
• approved the Community Development Block Grant budget for the 2012-13 fiscal year.