Special committee will oversee Suffolk finances

SUFFOLK -- The new majority on the City Council on Wednesday began laying the groundwork for what could result in a dramatic restructuring of city spending priorities.

The council voted 5-2 to create a special committee to oversee city finances with the idea, according to one council member, of cutting spending.

The move came the same night the City Council received a final draft of a report from a consultant it hired to examine city finances. The report said the city is low on cash and has violated some of its own financial policies. For example, using information from the end of the last fiscal year, the consultants concluded there was about $575,000 in a rainy-day fund that should hold several million.

Most council members embraced the findings, but some said they were no t convinced it showed a serious problem.

The report came out of a power shift on the council this summer when two new council members were elected and a new mayor -- Linda Johnson -- was picked. Former City Manager Steve Herbert was fired shortly after the election.

The new committee will partly fill the void left by the recent resignations of former Finance Director Christine Ledford and the city's financial advising firm, Public Financial Management.

The nine-member body will track revenue and expenditures, evaluate compliance with financial policies and make recommendations for city finance jobs, city officials said.

"This is to make sure we don't overspend again," Vice-Mayor Curtis Milteer sai d.

Councilmen Leroy Bennett and Charles Brown voted against establishing the committee. They said all seven council members -- instead of just two -- should be on it.

Defenders of the new committee said it was the first step to establishing financial discipline in a city they say has been spending too much money.

"We're starting down the path of more accountability and stewardship of taxpayers dollars," Councilman Charles Parr said.

The city also has hired a new finance administrator. Anne Seward, a former finance director and assistant county administrator in Isle of Wight County, is the city's new budget officer. Seward, who will report directly to the city manager, started her $82,900-a-year job Wednesday.