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City auditor reports progress on 151 open recommendations; 85% implemented over decade
Summary
City Auditor Joe Royce told the council the city has implemented or closed 85% of nearly 650 recommendations made over the past decade and will carry forward 109 open recommendations. Council accepted the status report unanimously after questions about Singleton property, CEQA changes and animal-care recommendations.
The San Jose City Council unanimously accepted a status report on open audit recommendations on Sept. 23 after a presentation from City Auditor Joe Royce showing progress across city departments and a discussion of several priority items.
"This report shows progress on 151 audit recommendations," Royce said, summarizing the auditor's review of outstanding items as of June 30, 2025. Royce told council staff implemented or closed 42 recommendations since the last reporting cycle and that, over the past decade, roughly 85% of nearly 650 total recommendations have been implemented or closed.
The presentation highlighted cross-departmental actions. The finance department updated the city's encumbrance policy and guidance; the police department finalized a community engagement plan and clarified duties around gun-violence restraining orders; the Department of Transportation established new performance measures for tree planting; the city manager's language-access manager began site visits and standard operating procedures for language accessibility; and Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services developed tools to target beautification work to equity metrics.
Royce reviewed the 12 priority recommendations the council previously identified, describing progress or closure on items that included police overtime controls, deployment of community service officers, outreach for massage-business permits, identification of vacant city-owned land and citywide grants-management guidance. He said certain recommendations remain in progress, such as identifying vacant parcels and completing CEQA-process updates.
Councilmembers pressed staff on details. Councilmember Deve1n (transcript: "Dewan") asked whether an update on the Singleton property would be available; Kevin Ives, director of Real Estate, said the annual real estate update scheduled for the City Economic Development committee will include Singleton. Questions about the animals and spay-and-neuter recommendations were answered by Public Works staff, who said they were on track to meet audit timelines and that recruitment for a deputy director position overseeing animal care services was ongoing.
Councilmember Matt Casey and others raised the continuing CEQA-related recommendations. Chris Chiu, who oversees planning-related work, told the council staff is meeting with developer stakeholders to clarify where recent state CEQA changes apply and where city processes will still require analysis. He said city teams are working to align with state law where possible and to explain to applicants why some local processes remain necessary.
Royce closed the presentation with a caution about internal controls during budget strain: he told council his greatest concern was that multiyear budget deficits could lead to de-prioritizing internal controls and quality-control systems that underlie the recommendations.
After brief public comment, Councilmember Kameh moved to accept the auditor's report; a second was recorded and the council voted unanimously to accept it.
The report will remain part of regular oversight work; staff said they will return with additional progress updates and that interactive dashboards and appendices with departmental detail are available on the auditor's website.
