Mayor demands discipline for auditor’s actions

LANSING – Mayor Virg Bernero is demanding discipline for City Internal Auditor Jim DeLine because of what he describes as a “fishing expedition” that generated erroneous results about the city’s ability to pay its bills.

While Bernero blasts the auditor, who reports to the City Council, three council members on the Committee on Ways & Means may decide Wednesday to seek a subpoena against City Attorney Janene McIntyre.

Bernero wrote Tuesday in a two-page letter to City Council President Tina Houghton that she should “take appropriate disciplinary action against Mr. DeLine and implement whatever additional steps are necessary to ensure his future compliance with all applicable laws and charter requirements.”

“Let me be clear: the City of Lansing pays its bills in a timely fashion,” Bernero said. “In the rare instance when an invoice is not paid within 90 days, there is a good reason for it.”

DeLine’s investigation began as a look at unpaid invoices in three selected departments: City Attorney, Fire Department and Public Service. DeLine said he found no issues with the Fire and Public Service invoices. But a report submitted to the Committee on Ways & Means last week said the Office of the City Attorney has $167,584 in unpaid bills from outside legal firms that are more than 90 days overdue. Of that, $158,111 is more than 120 days overdue. The office also owes $25,904 in bills that are 30 to 90 days overdue, according to DeLine’s report.

DeLine said Tuesday morning — before Bernero’s administration sent a copy of his letter to the Lansing State Journal late Tuesday afternoon — that it’s unusual for a municipality to have bills that are over 90 days overdue.

“As a general rule, that’s where I think the line is drawn — unless there are extenuating circumstances,” DeLine said. He said he is not aware of any extenuating circumstances.

To collect his data, DeLine sent letters to law firms on the city’s pre-approved list of outside counsel to asking about unpaid invoices. Bernero argues that DeLine doesn’t have the legal authority for such requests. Bernero cites the City Charter, which states the internal auditor is only empowered to access “the financial and other records of all city agencies.”

Three City Council members serve on the Committee on Ways & Means: Council Vice President Judi Brown Clarke and At-Large Members Carol Wood and Vincent Delgado. Clarke chairs the committee and minutes of a July 22 meeting reference her statement that DeLine would move forward with contacting vendors “for their balances to reconcile,” after failing to receive information from the City Attorney’s Office.

Bernero argues DeLine’s actions “served to undermine the confidence of city vendors based on the false premise that the city does not pay vendors in a timely fashion.”

Bernero also questioned why DeLine informed media members Monday about his research. Bernero said a memo DeLine wrote and sent to media members “suggests that his motives — or the motives of those who directed his work — are plainly malicious, purely political and directly in opposition to the best interests of the City of Lansing.”

Bernero’s letter to Houghton comes at a time when McIntyre could face legal action from the Committee on Ways & Means for failing to provide more background about contributions city retirees in the Teamsters Union make to their health care plans. “There are a couple of explanations she promised the committee, and the committee is impatient,” DeLine said.

If McIntyre doesn’t attend Wednesday’s Committee on Ways & Means meeting at City Hall, the committee could attempt to subpoena her to force attendance at their next meeting on Sept. 2. Wednesday’s committee meeting is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. at City Hall and is open to the public.

The subpoena would be part of a resolution that would be discussed by the full City Council at its regular Monday meeting.

A message left with Clarke, the Committee on Ways and Means’ chair, wasn’t returned. In minutes from Aug. 5, Clarke said that if McIntyre attends Wednesday’s meeting, action would not need to be taken on a subpoena. DeLine said he hasn’t heard from McIntyre since she sent him an email in July and does not know if she will attend.

A message left Tuesday with McIntyre’s office wasn’t returned.

In a statement Monday, Bernero described council members’ consideration of a subpoena of McIntyre as “laughable.” Bernero said the issue they have with McIntyre pertains to “reimbursements that were made to a small group of city retirees following a changed interpretation of contract language related to health insurance premiums.”

Bernero added the issue was “largely resolved months ago.” And he noted that City Charter makes the mayor responsible for labor matters; the council’s only role is to approve collective bargaining agreements after city employees have voted to accept them.

DeLine agreed with the mayor that health-care plan reimbursements for retirees was a issue that appears to have been resolved. But DeLine said he doesn’t understand why McIntyre hasn’t shown retirees a June 24 memo that explains the process and precedents used to resolve the situation. The memo was made available to the committee, but it was labeled “confidential,” DeLine said.

“I think the question is of transparency,” DeLine said. “Let’s be transparent. Let’s tell the retirees how this decision was reached.”

Eric Lacy is a reporter for the Lansing State Journal. Contact him at 517-377-1206 or elacy@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @EricLacy.