Effort to Find Firm for Audit of City Begins

City Council members took a first step this week to scrutinize city operations in the wake of the scandal involving the city’s trash and recycling contracts.

The council hired an independent consultant to draft the bid requests that will be used in the search for a firm to study city operations.

Council members requested a study in response to questions about how various departments at City Hall, including the city manager’s office, handled information pointing to problems with the city’s trash and recycling companies.

The district attorney’s office is investigating allegations that Orange Disposal Service Inc. and Orange Resource Recovery Systems Inc. might have misappropriated municipal funds.

At a meeting this week, City Manager David L. Rudat suggested the council hire the Santa Ana consulting firm to prepare the bid requests instead of using city employees.

The extra step will cost nearly $15,000, but Rudat said it would “ensure independence and objectivity right from the start.”

The city manager, whose actions have also come under scrutiny, said he fully embraces the study.

The firm, Rosenow Spevacek Group Inc., will develop a bid proposal describing exactly what the auditing firm will be asked to include in its report and then help the city evaluate the consultants who apply for the job.

The bid proposals should be ready to be mailed by Dec. 1, Rudat said.

Although the audit comes in response to the trash scandal, council members and Rudat said such a study is overdue.

An outside consultant could help the city become more efficient, especially given changed economics and a reduced City Hall work force, officials said.