The Process Review Committee (PRC) hit the ground running last Wednesday, July 16, set on a short-term mandate to get an independent review of Town Hall’s workflow into action.
Board of Finance member Sandy Arkell, who was promptly elected to chair it, said she would take a week or so to craft an initial outline of what the four members hope will become a usable Request for Proposals to solicit estimates from auditing firms.
“We intend to execute with agility without sacrificing the quality of the work we expect to be delivered,” Arkell said later. “The timeline here will be dependent on the scope of work and the execution of the RFP/RFQ process.”
“I’m happy to take a first stab at sharing a scope of work, sharing it with this committee,” Arkell told the other three members, who include BOF Chair Matt Raimondi, First Selectman Toni Boucher and Selectman Ross Tartell.
Appointment of the committee raised some controversy earlier this month after Selectwoman Kim Healy, who was instrumental in advocating for an independent review, was not selected to serve, with Boucher instead recommending that she and Tartell participate.
The desire for an outside independent audit was precipitated by several events occurring over the past year relating to Town Hall finances, including issues with a material weakness in the annual finance audit, and the granting of tax credits to some Wilton residents without Board of Selectmen approval. Concerns have been expressed that inadequate staffing in the Finance Department may be partially to blame, but the BOF in particular wants to discover if there are other procedures or practices in place that may be causing problems.
“In order to make sure we get kind of a broad review, while also trying to identify root cause, in audit world or consulting world that would be called a limited review and engagement,” Arkell said.
Typically, she said, this would entail their coming in and conducting many different interviews with people who work for the town. She said they might ask for copies of policies and procedures, and also review things that have happened and why they went the way they did.
“And then they’ll come back and they will outline their observations,” Arkell said, with the auditor potentially making recommendations of various kinds.
“There’ll probably be recommendations for implementations, actions to correct, to remediate, so we’ll know then, do we need more help,” she said.
Tartell referenced concerns relating to Boucher’s conflicts of interest, but pointed out that her presence on the committee was of value in relation to the follow-up after any recommendations may be made by the consultant.
“There’s so much controversy about conflict of interest and I think in terms of having Toni part of this process, it’s incredibly important to the end game,” Tartell said.
“You and I have seen tons and tons of reports that are up on a shelf,” he told Arkell, “so the end game around putting it in place requires all hands committed and all hands on deck, and having the CEO of the town fully committed and on board with that, with you as the lead on the project … That’s why I totally support Toni being here. I think it’s incredibly important that she be here.”
Arkell noted that “operational execution” was needed once any recommendations were made.
Boucher pointed out that, in some cases, the issues of concern predate her tenure as first selectman.
“There’s been some lack of process completion in former years, dating back to 2020 or 2019,” Boucher said.
She said, however, that she was in favor of Arkell taking the lead on drafting the preliminary RFP, based on her expertise.
Arkell said she had already reached out to three firms, but only one had responded thus far. She said it would likely require a separate meeting with each candidate in order to clarify the questions they want examined.
Tartell said he wanted to see the selected candidate draft a clear outline of how they intended to handle the investigation, including who they would want to speak with and, generally, what questions they might ask. He said this is where Boucher would also be of service, ideally advising and encouraging her staff’s full cooperation.
“They will have recommendations and I hope that they will not just be making audit recommendations … There are organizational issues that have an impact on the function of the town,” Tartell said, including goals and responsibilities, process details, and understanding of the Wilton culture.
“Is it supportive or is it in the way?” he said. “Is there fear or is there teamwork?”
Members emphasized that they hope to conduct the work in an efficient way, ideally keeping costs under $25,000 in order to give more flexibility to the RFP process.
Arkell said she envisioned the work itself taking four to six weeks, with recommendations to follow.
Once the work is underway, the PRC will disband and the BOF will hold the responsibility for overseeing the assessment.
Arkell emphasized that the investigation was not aimed at any particular individual, nor even solely being conducted to examine the Finance Department.
“It should be viewed as an opportunity for good hygiene given the many changes in the Town of Wilton over the past five years,” she said.
“I have learned that these types of reports can be an indication of potential areas of opportunity to improve operational processes, clarify roles and responsibilities, and to strengthen policies, procedures and controls,” she said.