Promises Made, Promises Kept

PROMISES MADE, PROMISES KEPT

Transparency
Successfully advocated for the City’s Administration to publicly disclose the locations and purchase prices of the 34 parcels of property owned by the City of Richmond Heights;

Successfully advocated for the release of the organizational documents of the Greenwood Farm Historical, Cultural & Arts Association, Inc.; and,

Created a blog and email blast to keep residents apprised of the operations of the City.

Good Government/Financial Accountability/Reduction of Waste

• Wrote the City’s policy for vehicle and cellular phone usage in compliance with best practices as outlined by the Auditor of State, thereby saving the tax-payers of Richmond Heights tens of thousands of dollars in misuse;
• Spearheaded outsourcing of the City’s bank reconciliation to the Auditor of State and unearthing more than $300,000 in accounting errors;
• Urged the City’s Administration to fulfill the State and County requirements of filing timely and accurate annual financial statements.  In 2012, for the first time in 10 years, the City filed its financial statements on time.

Collaboration and Cooperation with the Richmond Heights Local School District

• Participate annually in the Booster’s Scholarship interviews for outstanding graduating seniors involved in public service and sports;
• Wrote and sponsored a $35,000 grant from the Cuyahoga County Department of Development in order to put rubber pavement on the playground of the School;
• Organized Right to Read Week with the Principal of the Elementary School in order to introduce the children to successful members of their community.

“No” Means “Yes” for the Richmond Heights Tax Payers

• Consistently voted “no” to additional acquisitions of residential property for the City;
• Consistently voted “no” to over-budget expenditures without supporting and explanatory documentation

Commitment to Broad Based Public Service

• Commissioner, Cuyahoga County Charter Review Commission
• Commissioner, Richmond Heights Charter Review Commission
• Board Member, Cuyahoga County Public Library Foundation
• Board Member, Hillcrest YMCA Board of Advisors
• Member, Women’s Committee of the Cleveland Museum of Art
• Member, International Cleveland Communities Advisory Committee of CMA

The City of Richmond Heights Has Not Reconciled its Bank Account Balances Since December 2008

The reconciliation process accounts for the differences between the balances appearing on the bank statements and the balance of cash according to the City’s records. 

It is the government equivalent of balancing your personal checking account each month.

Failure to perform bank reconciliations is cited as one of the five material deficiencies in the 2008 audit.

Because the City could not reconcile the 2007 and 2008 bank accounts, the City had to write-off $21,920 in 2007 and $18,475 in 2008.  In other words, over two years, $40,395 simply went missing. 

See Finding Number 2008-008 and 2008-009:  http://www.auditor.state.oh.us/auditsearch/Reports/2010/City_of_Richmond_Heights_08_07-Cuyahoga.pdf.)