Azusa : No Audit on Staff Expenses

With Councilman Lucio Cruz absent this week, the City Council split 2 to 2 on a proposal by Mayor Eugene Moses to order an audit of all expenses by staff members since 1983. The tie vote killed the proposal.

Councilman James Cook said that to audit the expenses of everyone from meter readers to the city administrator would entail a “horrendous expense” and that the mayor should propose an audit on specific areas that he finds questionable. Cook told the mayor: “Yours is a witch hunt, and you haven’t found any witches.”

Councilman Bruce Latta, who noted that council members already have ordered a special audit of their own expenses, joined Cook in opposing the move. Latta said the city is protected by a regular audit of all of its expenditures.

Councilwoman Jennie Avila sided with the mayor on the request for a special audit, saying, “If there’s nothing to hide, there’s nothing wrong with it.”