City auditor reviews public-integrity work and FY22-23 work plan; director announces departure

Peg Stevenson, director of the Performance Division in the City Services Auditor (CSA) unit, and Mark Dela Rosa of CSA Audits briefed the committee on audit activities and the unit’s FY22-23 work plan.

Stevenson outlined the CSA mandates under the charter, the unit’s staffing vacancies and an operating budget figure for the unit. She said CSA is migrating performance content to sf.gov and continuing required audits, performance evaluations and the whistleblower program. "We're the city's internal auditor," she said while explaining the unit's scope.

Mark Dela Rosa said CSA Audits had issued its tenth public-integrity report — a follow-up on refuse rate-setting — which included six findings and six recommendations, and that the audits team is tracking more than 60 recommendations across the program. He also described planned geo-bond expenditure audits (including a placeholder for the 2018 Seawall Safety Improvement audit) and IT and systems-audit activity.

Stevenson said the unit is managing staffing vacancies that will slow ramp-up for some projects and noted the unit expects to continue COVID-19 cost-recovery pre-audit work to maximize federal and state claims. She said the unit expects to issue a written work-plan document in the coming months.

Stevenson announced this meeting would be her last with the city and introduced Natasha Meehaw, who briefly addressed the committee and said she looked forward to building on the unit's work.

Members thanked Stevenson and praised the audits team for its oversight role; several members committed to follow up on liaison and site-visit opportunities.