Anthony Segrich, Interview with Sun Sentinel
Campaign website: segrich4lwb.com
Date, place of birth: 08/24/1977 – New Jersey, USA
Sun Sentinel: "Florida’s auditor general says the city has not complied with a law requiring audited financial statements since about 2022, and has failed to provide final or audited statements on municipal bonds, which prompted Moody’s rating service to withdraw any rating from the city’s $88 million utility bond issue from 2020. How will you address this failure to adhere to state law and the accompanying lapse in sound financial reporting?"
Anthony Segrich: "It is not surprising to me that it took an article in the Sun Sentinel to shed light upon this issue. The City of Lake Worth Beach has an accountability problem. It is my understanding that according to staff, high staff turnover and the fact that the audit firm hired by our city had put Lake Worth Beach last in line (typical occurrence) is why we did not meet our obligation to the Florida Auditor General.
A quick public records request revealed that the $88M utility bond project has not had any presentations or updates for the Commission since 2022 (according to the City Clerk). For those months that did have the bonds on the agenda, it fell under the consent agenda and did not have a presentation for the public to see. Clearly staff does not feel beholden to the scrutiny of the Commission and clearly the Commission has not scrutinized staff enough.
I will work with my other Commissioners to reverse this culture of mediocrity and establish clear standards for accountability. Whether or not you hire a subcontractor to do a job, or have internal staff perform that function, as a department director, ultimately the responsibility and accountability rests on your shoulders. The city has nine (9) months from the end of the fiscal year to deliver the audit. This is ample time to complete an audit as well as to course correct if the audit firm has not produced at least an initial draft within 2 months.
I would push for updates from our Finance director on a quarterly basis where they would have to show progress on these audits and an up-to-date completion date.
If this happens again, people must be terminated."
March 25 Run-off Election.
