As Wentzville investigates questionable service contracts, the city plans to address the problem by restructuring its purchasing, hiring and technology departments.
Alderman Chris Gard, Ward 2, is leading the push to consolidate the city's purchasing authority under one new director-level position. Currently, any city department can issue its own purchasing contracts. Gard said this has created a mess that will take years to clean up.
"We have contracts in departments we didn't even know we had," Gard said.
In the parks department alone, the city found 200 contracts that the purchasing department did not know existed, he said.
"We have payments with no record we ever received services," Gard said. "We are not sure where the money went or what we got for it. Every week we are finding more and more of these things. This nonsense has got to stop."
Under the restructuring, the new procurement director would have centralized contract management authority, reporting directly to the mayor instead of the city administrator. Additionally, the director would oversee the city's information technology systems.
A second new director would take charge of human resources, including employee evaluations and contract negotiations. Again, this HR director would report to the mayor, not the city administrator.
"We grew up so quickly that our policies and procedures and the way we conduct business did not keep up with our population growth," Gard said.
Some details still need fine tuning, but the majority of the Board of Aldermen on Feb. 8 agreed to move forward with the restructuring. Members plan to vote on a revised proposal in the near future. If approved, the new plan would not immediately take effect. The city first must find the money to pay for the new director positions. The new structure probably would be in place by the end of the year.
Alderman Nick Guccione, Ward 3, questioned whether the board should approve the restructuring before Wentzville hires a new city administrator. City officials were scheduled to interview candidates for the position Feb. 11. The former city administrator, Dianna Wright, resigned in August. Dennis Walsh has served in the interim.
Guccione said the new city administrator might want to provide input. Gard said the city should not wait until a new administrator comes aboard.
"I don't care what the new city administrator thinks, quite frankly," Gard said. "These departments are past due."
Alderman Vann Sample, Ward 2, said he did not think information technology should fall under the procurement director's authority. He questioned whether creating too many director-level positions would dilute the city administrator's authority.
Alderman Rick Stokes, Ward 3, said he wanted to include the police department in the restructuring, removing it from the city administrator's control and placing it under the mayor's authority. The board agreed to direct Police Chief Lisa Harrison to draft a plan for including her department in the restructuring.
The effort to reign in the city's procurement practices began last summer when the board asked Jerry Hillin, purchasing administrator, to begin auditing purchasing contracts and payment for services made during the last 10 years.
Hillin has examined thousands of contracts, investigating the transactions, verifying the services received, and closing open-ended agreements.
Gard said the law requires every contract to have a start and end date, but the city has used an amendment process to keep some contracts open for eight to 10 years. The initial agreement might have been a one-year contract, but the city amended the agreement to continue another year, and another, adding services and pricing beyond the scope of the original contract, Gard said.
One contract began 10 years ago as a $70,000 agreement for services, but was amended to add services beyond its initial intent, Gard said. The agreement grew into a $3 million contract, he said.
In another case, the city paid $15,000 to a company listed as Westplex LLC, Gard said. The check was cashed, but there was no record of its purpose or the services received, he said. The address for the business seemed to be wrong, or the company did not exist, he said.
"That one was a little sticky," Gard said. "These things might go to the city attorney."
During the board's Feb. 8 meeting, Gard asked City Attorney Paul Rost to look into a check that he described as the last in a series of questionable payments.
"This is one that is more troubling," Gard told Rost. "Another check with absolutely no contract attached to it. But the check was cashed. So we spent the money, but are not sure where the money went or what we got for it."
