LOS ANGELES — Former California Treasurer Bill Lockyer has been hired to help Industry, Calif. come up with a plan to deal with accounting irregularities.
Lockyer said he was brought in to be the compliance monitor for the reforms recommended by State Controller Betty Yee; State Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, who represents Industry; and the Industry City Council.
The controller's report identified 67 topics that should be addressed in fiscal and management changes.
The former treasurer compared Industry to Vernon; both Southern California have large arrays of businesses and corporations within their city limits and a very small population of residents. Industry has about 200. And both cities are the subject of questions around their accounting practices,
Locker said some former city leaders faced prosecution in Vernon, and that has not been the case in Industry.
The attorney general's office is looking into whether there was any malfeasance involved in the accounting regularities that led to two former Industry mayors stepping down, however.
"The circumstances are very different, but Vernon was the subject of considerable legislative dispute, because of their fiscal and criminal history," Lockyer said. "There were three mayors and a city manager convicted of a crime in Vernon. Nothing like that has happened in the City of Industry, but there has been controversy. The council decided they would address the controller's recommendations."
Yee released an audit in January that listed 67 recommendations for improvement.
She lauded the city for its recent steps and for the decision to hire Lockyer to help it establish better accounting controls, in a release.
"I applaud industry for taking seriously the pervasive accounting shortcomings my team found in a review earlier this year," Yee said. "Even before the review was published, the city started to overhaul its procedures regarding contracts, invoices, and credit cards. Now, the City Council has unanimously approved a consulting agreement with the universally respected Bill Lockyer to act as the Independent Reform Advisor. This is a big step in the right direction for Industry."
Lockyer was officially hired on May 27.
The day before, he made the two-hour drive from his Orange County offices at law firm Brown Rudnick to Industry for a driving tour with the mayor and one of the council members.
The controversies surrounding the city were sparked in 2009 by questions surrounding garbage fees paid to a company that was owned by ex-mayor Dave Perez. It resulted in the district attorney's investigation and later the controller's audit, which was released in January.
The city also hired KPMG to do an audit. Following the audit, City Manager Kevin Radecki asked Valley Vista, the former mayor's garbage disposal company, to provide financial records and other documents related to the contract that extends to 2025, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"I am setting up the inventory of these different topics and evaluating the current status," Lockyer said.
That would include the changes that have been made since January, milestones, timetables and setting up the matrix for these matters, he said.
"There will be periodic public reports to inform the public and the council about progress," he said.
