Internal Auditor To Retire from Lake Worth

Here's a man whose suggestions were ignored and/or never implemented.  Another one bites the dust.

Kenneth Oakes, the City of Lake Worth Internal Auditor, will be retiring on March 31, 2017. Ken has served as the Internal Auditor for the past four years and during his tenure with Lake Worth, many of his audits, particularly the early ones, have significantly impacted the City’s processes and controls.

In Ken’s time with the City, he has built an impressive portfolio of more than 45 reports, memos on a variety of audit topics, audit plans, documents establishing new programs and procedures, and investigation result memos that have been sent to the City Commission.

Ken’s initial plans for his retirement involve his fishing equipment and passport and visiting his kids in New York during the warmer months.

“Ken was our first Internal Auditor to serve even though the position was first created in 1988 it remained vacant for many years.  The IA is an important part of our government and Ken basically created and set the bar for future Auditors.  I have valued his reports, insights, and thoughtful approach to the City organization.”  ~Lake Worth City Manager, Michael Bornstein

“Years before working in the City, in fact even before I was a full-time Florida resident (pre-2005), I was a regular visitor to the Lake and Lucerne restaurant scene. This practice will absolutely continue, as I have always felt very comfortable in this wild and wooly culture. In addition, my graphic artist wife Sue has exhibited art works in many of the City’s venues over the years. I’m sure this will continue as well. Even though I live in suburban Lake Worth, my attachment to and connection with this burgh will continue.” ~Lake Worth Internal Auditor, Kenneth Oakes

Please contact Ben Kerr, the City of Lake Worth Communications Specialist with any questions or comments.

Internal Auditor gives Report

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Last night Kenneth Oakes, Internal Auditor, finally got to give his report.  He had already given his report on the Code Department on May 23, 2013 and there was a big shake-up because of it. He says things are better there now. He didn't go into a lot of details in his report last night that covered many areas but he did say that he was surprised that things were not as bad as he had feared.

The City provides 160 cell phones which equates to about 40% of staff. They get to use the phones, no questions are asked. Individual phone detail is not provided by Sprint due to the amount of paper possibly totaling 400 pages. A summary of usage is billed and then reviewed by the IT Department for payment.

CBS 12 News was in the parking lot as I arrived having already conducted its interview.  They had interviewed our Internal Auditor and Mike Bornstein, city manager, after they found out that tracking taxpayer money in Lake Worth for recent years is difficult, in some cases impossible. Their story focused on one aspect where money and abuse has occurred, cell phones, but also touched on city vehicle abuse. Employees were using their phones to make personal calls out of state after hours or during the day and using city owned vehicles for personal use. Invoices are not generally reviewed by department heads.Click here for story and video

Mr. Oakes discovered that cell phone use was being abused by many employees present and past with no way of knowing how much money was lost. Lake Worth City Manager Michael Bornstein says the city didn't even have an internal auditor for 6 years, and he expected to find areas needing serious improvement. It may seem like six years but our last internal auditor's contract was not renewed for the 2010 Budget year and Mr. Oakes has been here since January 8, 2013.  This administration likes to play the blame game. Mike Bornstein has been here since April 2012, long enough to understand what's going on in his departments. Doesn't the buck stop with him?

This is just another reason why residents worry about giving them $63.5 million for a bond.

Where's the Internal Auditor?

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Tonight's city commission agenda is SHORT.  It seems to get shorter every meeting.  That is the plan. Keep the public barefooted and enfeebled when it comes to any sort of meaningful information. This commission complained that this position was not funded by the former city manager and they hired Kenneth Oakes through much fanfare. They have kept him barefoot but certainly not pregnant.

On May 6, Kenneth Oakes, our Internal Auditor who has been here for one year now, was to report on all that he has been doing. Not to be. It was decided by someone that the agenda was extensive and commissioners did not want a very long meeting. Therefore, they wanted Mr. Oakes to have adequate time for his presentation. In an attempt to avoid what happened at his last presentation before the Commission on August 6, 2013 when he stepped to the podium after 11:00 pm, it was decided to reschedule tentatively for June 3.

Mr. Oakes is still not on the agenda.

Lake Worth's Internal Auditor Agreement being signed tonight

On tonight's city commission agenda is the employment agreement for the Internal Auditor, Kenneth Oakes.

For services rendered under this Agreement, the City will pay Employee on the same schedule that it pays other employees, in equal payments determined by dividing One Hundred and Five Thousand Dollars ($105,000) by the number of pay periods in a calendar year. City shall also provide and pay for the costs of employee benefits that are provided and paid for any other employee within employee’s City salary range. Said salary amount may be increased by the City without opening and/or amending this Agreement and/or Section.

My only question is, why didn't you offer this same salary to highly qualified Robert Marksmeier?

As one former applicant said, "I got the feeling that the Internal Audit Plan should not contain anything of what Management desires but should contain 100% of what the Commission desires to be done. That would not be a risk based internal audit plan because the Internal Auditor would not be able to identify risk with City Management even though City Management knows where the risks are much more than a governing body would."