In a response to the Times-Dispatch article which reported that the city failed to improve controlling fuel spending by the city fleet, the mayor has released the following response from press secretary Linwood Norman:

From Mayor L. Douglas Wilder:

“It is clear the City Auditor has become a political lapdog in return for favors granted to him by the Council President. Instead of serving the City as a whole, he has consistently ignored ‘best practices’ in auditing, which are supposed to bring about greater efficiency in government.
“I am quite certain that the other Council members are unfamiliar with the extent of the private relationship between the auditor and the Council President.”

From DCAO Chris Beschler:

“Earlier this week, I spoke with and sent a letter to the auditor confirming that the City had satisfactorily responded to 53 of the 54 recommendations in the 2007 report, and the auditor agreed. The other recommendation will be complied with by September 19, 2008.”
“I specifically asked the auditor to include our responses in the final report. I thought that he would have done so, but he chose not to include the corrections we’ve already made to improve the efficiency of fleet operations.
“I only learned of the issuance of the final report through the media, which unfortunately reported the inaccurate information supplied by the auditor.”

Certainly, we hope that the mayor will soon be clarifying what “favors” he believes Mr. Dalal has received from Mr. Pantele, for we are concerned as citizens about conflicts of interest and effective government.