GARDENA : Council to Set Up Panel to Monitor Finances

To help ensure that the city doesn’t fall into an investment quagmire like Orange County, the City Council decided to set up an advisory committee to oversee city finances.

In a unanimous vote Tuesday, the council agreed to establish a committee from outside Gardena to make sure city investments are doing well and offer recommendations and suggestions for better ones. It has not yet been determined how many members the committee will have or whether they will be paid.

Through the advisory committee, the council hopes to ease public concern by making the city’s financial situation more public, council members said.

“I feel very confident that we are in good financial shape, that our investments have been wise, and we are in no danger of having an Orange County type of fiasco,” Mayor Donald L. Dear said.

But, Dear said, the public is still concerned about what is happening with the city’s money.

“I think it would be good for both our city treasurer and the people to reassure them that our investments are good and our financial status is good,” Councilman Mas Fukai said.

But City Treasurer Lorenzo F. Ybarra objected that he was not consulted before the council acted on the proposal.

On several occasions, Ybarra said he approached the council members about holding seminars on the city’s finances, but never received a response.

City Manager Kenneth W. Landau said the committee could be established within the next two to three months.