Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Finance And Staffing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Holyoke CPA voids consultant contract, hires replacement and greenlights limited city staff hours for purchasing
Summary
The Holyoke City CPA committee voted to void its contract with consultant Daniel Koff and approve Patty Kavanaugh as the new financial consultant; members also approved establishing a small, internal city staff role (up to five hours per week) to process purchase orders and empowered the chair to select the candidate with the economic-development office.
At its meeting Wednesday, the Holyoke City CPA committee voted to void the contract of its previous finance consultant, Daniel Koff, and to approve Patty Kavanaugh as a replacement. The committee also approved a limited internal city staff position to handle purchase orders and Munis updates, and empowered the chair to select a candidate in coordination with Aaron Vega's office.
The chair said the change was driven by the need for better Munis (municipal financial software) expertise and by the candidate’s lower proposed rate. "We have a better option available to us, a more affordable, better option," the chair said while presenting Patty Kavanaugh’s proposal, which the committee described as a detailed audit and ongoing support plan.
Committee members raised process questions. Mary asked whether the action would void an existing contract or be a nonrenewal; the chair said the committee would take two votes—first to void Daniel’s contract, then to approve Kavanaugh’s contract. The motion to void Daniel’s contract passed unanimously on roll call. The committee then approved Patty Kavanaugh’s contract; the chair noted that the contract runs through July 30 and that the role should shrink after outstanding items are addressed.
Separately, the committee debated whether processing purchase orders should be a city responsibility or paid by the CPA. Michael argued that purchasing is the city’s function and that the CPA should not pay for what the purchasing office normally does. Meg and others said internal city departments are stretched thin; the committee approved establishing an internal city employee to allocate up to five hours per week to CPA purchasing tasks to avoid outsourcing the whole function.
The committee voted to empower the chair to work with the economic-development office to select the internal candidate and asked staff to report back when selection is complete. The chair said the arrangement is intended to be lower cost and operationally efficient.
Next steps: staff to notify Daniel Koff, onboard Patty Kavanaugh and coordinate with Aaron Vega’s office to name the internal city employee; the consultant will audit processes and recommend ways to maximize interest income and improve Munis workflows.
