Street roots
3
Ja n 31, 2014
The other
comer office
Some o f the best examples o f how to run a city aren’t
coming from the commissioners themselves, but from
the analysis by City A uditor LaVonne Griffin-Valade
BY A M ANDA WALDROUPE
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R
aVonne Griffin-Valade doesn’t mince
her words.
■
the topic would consume much of her time
as auditor, and present challenges an auditor
might not otherwise face.
Between that and interacting with
Portland’s City Council ¿4 a group of people
known for strong personalities and a fair
heaping of drama — she learned early on
that the city of Portland needs a strong
auditor.
. When Street Roots spoke to Griffin-
Valade, she was in the midst of editing an
audit of. Portland’s Streetcar services, which
is soon to be released.
Nor would she. As a former
elementary school teacher and aspiring
fiction writer, she values the precision of
perfect grammar. As the city’s auditor, she
values the ability of a weli-written, /
researched — and sometimes, snappy-
sounding — report to change, in some way,
how the city functions.
As auditor, Griffin-Valade is in charge of
overseeing how the auditor’s office
Am anda Waldroupe: W hat are some o f
investigates and conducts reviews of the
the core values or beliefs that inform y o u r job
functionality of various city programs—
on a day-to-day basis? :
everything from the city’s streetcars to
entire bureaus, to the stability of the city’s
LaVonne Griffin-Valade: The thrust pf
finances. She became, the city’s auditor in
my Work involves neutrality, independence,
2009, when then-Auditor Gary Blackmer left impartiality transparency, and holding
the position to become director of the
accountable myself, the folks who work for
state’s audit division. She came to the city
me, and for the government I’m auditing
after serving as Multnomah County’s -
ànd providing some oversight function.
auditor since 2006.
think what has driven me
She’s developed a
essentially in every
reputation for not
professional endeavor I’ve -
"The values of justice ,
sugarcoating: audits
been involved in is a search
on the city’slong-
and fairness and
for justice and fairness^
term financial
That’s a value I’ve always
speafelsg tru th to pow er
stability, quality of its
had. That can involve
supersedes any o i the
infrastructure,
wonky things like spending
concerns th a t 1 m ig h t
overtime pay,
taxpayer dollars
government
have a bout sta yin g above appropriately to ensure that
transparency and
we’re able to provide the
the fe a y /?
police accountability
services the public expects
can be described as
of us. Historically, that’s •'
nothing less than
been a tenet that has driven
blistering,. They’ve'
a lot of change in the United States. I
called into question how well Portland
believe very strongly in creating a voicè for
actually works, and created tension between
the public. I’m also very pragmatic. If
her office and members of Portland’s City
something requires a strong public
Council, particularly Mayor Charlie Hales.
statement, to get mpvement or change, Fm
Griffin-Valade announced latelastyear
perfectly willing to do that. It’s nothing that
that she will retire at the end of 2014. Her
most auditors really enjoy doing, but the
lasting legacy will likely be changes to the
values of justice and fairness and speaking
Independent Police Review and oversight of
truth to power supersedes any of the
Portland’s Police Bureau that have
concerns that I might have about staying
happened under her watch and in response
above the fray.
to the Department of Justice’s findings that
Portland’s police use excessive force against
A.W.: How would you characterize the tone
the mentally ill. The attention directed at
o f the audits y o u ’ve conducted?
the police specifically signaled to Griffin-
Valade as she was coming into office that
P H O T O . C O U R T E S Y O F T H E P O R T L A N D C IT Y A U D I T O R 'S O F F IC E
L.G-V.: We work very hard to make sure
that the'language is neutral, that we’re not
using a lot of jargon, and we’re just -
presenting the facts. Sometimes just
presenting the facts — not making an
assessment one way or the other — can be
read as pretty strongly worded. I want the
tone to be clear. I want the message to be
clear. I want the level of neutrality; making
strong statements that need to be
requirements. I want the public to be able
to read it. Commissioners are not always as
knowledgeable about the bureaus they’re .in
charge of. It’s my goal to get opr reports to
a point where they’re readable and
accessible to the public so they can judge
for themselves.
A.W.: W hat dp you think the m o s t .
appropriate response, io an a u d it is on the p a rt
o f a city elected official or city bureau leaders?
L.G-V.: My preference would always be
that we issue these well-received reports
and they’re acted on immediately; (laughing).
About 93 percent of our recommendations
are fully implemented, or in the process of
being implemented. Within the industry,
that’s a very high number. That speaks
volumes. I think it’s an indication that they
take our audits very seriously. We’re here to
get change. That’s our goal.
A.W.: P ortland’s motto is “the city that
works. ’’.Given yo u r audits on police
accountability, the city’s unstable finances,
infrastructure improvements a n d other topics, *
do yo u th in k the city is living up to that
pledge?
L.G-V.: Well, back to being, neutral. I
think the audits speak for themselves. I
think our audits ... demonstrate that the city
may aspire to be the city that works, but' the
city doesn’t always work, It is an aspirational
goal. But our primary goal is to help, the city
find ways to improve and ultimately work.
/ A.W.: On fa n . 8, the City Council passed
a n ordinance beefing up the Independent
Police Review’s (IPR) ability to oversee the
police bureau a n d pursue discipline,, as p a rt o f
See AUDITOR, page 5
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