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Audit committee to reissue topic survey; members suggest police overtime, district councils, permitting and hiring process reviews
Summary
The St. Paul Audit Committee agreed to reissue its audit topic survey and to discuss topic selection at its February meeting, with members proposing several audit ideas including police overtime, district councils, permit-inspection changes and the seasonal hiring process.
The St. Paul Audit Committee discussed plans to reissue its audit topic survey, coordinate topic selection with the City Council retreat in mid-February and begin outreach to district councils and community groups. Committee members suggested several topic areas for possible audit work.
Ms. Zhang, staff member, said the committee had agreed to push topic selection to February and that she would incorporate the timeline for a vacancy when finalizing the schedule. Committee members and staff agreed to re-promote the topic survey to district councils and community partners and to attach a clear timeline and explanation for how topics will be used.
Committee members offered topic ideas they said recurred in budget conversations and community feedback: policing overtime and staffing levels, the role and funding of district councils, outcomes from a 2018 change to permit-inspection follow-up (whether the change produced intended inspections or produced faster closures without inspection), and citywide hiring-process barriers — particularly for seasonal positions used by parks and others.
Ms. Ming urged re-engaging the community via the survey. Chair Naker asked staff to prepare messaging about the February discussion and timeline to help promote the survey.
Committee members also discussed filling a single upcoming community-adviser vacancy and agreed to follow the recruitment timeline used previously; staff said the prior opening produced many applicants and the committee has some flexibility if multiple strong candidates apply.
No formal topic was selected nor vote taken at the meeting; committee members set February as the month for narrowing topics and asked staff to circulate the survey and draft timeline in advance of the February meeting.
