State Recommends Creating Review Board

According to the West Haven Voice article entitled "OPM officials sugfest[sic] board", The State's Office of Policy and Management has made a series of recommendations to Mayor Picard in a September 12th letter from OPM secretary Robert L. Genuario.

These suggestions include creating an 8 member review board O to oversee city finances. These members would all appointed by the governor and:

Four are members of other municipalities, while three would have municipal finance backgrounds, and one from OPM.

Apparently Mayor Picard is looking at this as a last resort. However, the state has indicated that they would lend money to the city at a low interest rate to cover the deficit if we allow the creation of the board. I think Mayor Picard should consider the fact that he is bleeding this city dry right now - taxpayers of West Haven need SOME form of relief!

It's intriguing that the Mayor appears to be backtracking on his predictions of doom and gloom, and is quoted as saying:

“Until the audit is complete, we don’t know where we actually stand,” Picard said. “We’re hoping we can continue our efforts to cut expenses and locate funds so the deficit won’t be as bad as we first thought.”

Also of interest:

The OPM official notes that which ever firm gets the [auditing] contract the city should make sure “the auditor meets the obligation to fully audit and analyze the internal controls and financial management practices of the city” and offer corrective action. Secondly, officials should tailor expanded audit services to clearly identify “issues and weaknesses that the city needs to correct in order to get its financial house in order.”