Before you build, you prepare the foundation.

Every responsible construction project starts the same way:
You prepare the ground before you pour concrete.
You reinforce before you frame.
You inspect before you expand.

City government is no different.

Since being sworn in on November 4, 2025, we have made deliberate decisions that are not the easy path. Instead of rushing toward visible projects, we chose to strengthen something more important first:

The financial foundation of this City.

Progress without structure creates headlines.
Progress with structure creates stability.

We chose stability.

Today, I am announcing a multi-part blog series that will walk through exactly what we inherited, what we found, what we are fixing, and why it matters to you.

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What We Inherited

When this administration took office, we did not begin with a clean financial slate.

We inherited:

• Unpaid bills and obligations that rolled forward into the current fiscal year totaling over $500,000
• Reporting systems that did not clearly tell the financial story or align with a defined plan
• Bank accounts that were fractured across multiple accounts and GL Structures
• A general ledger framework that lacked consistent usage, making reporting unreliable and difficult to interpret

When we reviewed Fiscal Year 2025 transactions and the legacy chart of accounts, it became clear that the issue was not one transaction or one department.

It was structural.

Expenses were coded inconsistently across departments.
Transfers were sometimes recorded in ways that resembled operating spending.
Operational activity and clearing activity were mixed.
Bank accounts and general ledger accounts did not consistently align in a way that reflected standard governmental accounting structure.

Without structure, reporting becomes interpretation.
Government finance should never rely on interpretation.

Without clear answers, acceleration would have been irresponsible.

And without a reliable financial system, the City cannot credibly pursue federal funds or competitive grants.

Participation Before Acceleration

Early structural corrections – reconciliation work, account standardization, reporting alignment – do not require Council approval. They are administrative and procedural improvements.

But instead of moving forward unilaterally, I intentionally invited Council and public participation.

That pause was not hesitation.

It was governance.

It was meant to:

• Encourage ownership
• Foster understanding
• Increase transparency

Certain measures were voted to be delayed not understanding that the underlying structural work, is not optional. It was necessary on Day One and it continues forward.

The Work That Must Be Done

Two structural projects are critical to responsible financial governance:

1. General Ledger (GL) Rebuild
2.  Budget-to-GL Mapping

These are not cosmetic upgrades. They are foundational corrections.

A general ledger is not just a list of accounts. It is the internal control framework of the City.

Without a structured GL:

• Reports cannot reliably align with the adopted budget
• Department-level spending cannot be clearly tracked
• Fund restrictions cannot be enforced structurally
• Grant eligibility can be compromised
• Audit readiness is weakened

Transparency requires structure.
Structure requires discipline.

We have now implemented a Master Chart of Accounts built on:

• Fund-based legal restrictions
• Standardized natural expense classifications
• Department responsibility coding
• Location tracking for physical assets
• Proper transfer segregation
• Alignment between bank structure and general ledger control accounts

This replaces fragmentation with enforceable structure.

Legacy accounts have been preserved for historical audit purposes but locked from future use. Bank consolidation efforts are underway so cash management aligns with fund accounting principles rather than multiplying standalone accounts.

We are also interviewing multiple forensic auditors to review prior activity. That review is appropriate and necessary. But forensic review alone does not move a city forward.

Structural correction does.

Management vs. Mismanagement

Mismanagement rarely begins with bad intent.

It begins with:

• Poor categorization
• Untracked or chaotic transaction coding
• Plan deviations without reconciliation
• Operational expansion without infrastructure planning
• Systems that do not enforce compliance structurally

Management means identifying those weaknesses early and correcting them before they become systemic.

That is the phase we are in.

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What This Means for Taxpayers

You deserve:

• Accurate reporting
• Clear distinctions between inherited costs and new decisions
• Honest identification of budget deviations
• Data that aligns with actual bank activity
• A financial system capable of supporting federal funding applications

Attached to this post, you will find the new Master Chart of Accounts structure that has now been implemented.

This document reflects how we are rebuilding the City’s financial framework:

• Clear fund separation
• Standardized expense classifications
• Department accountability coding
• Proper transfer segregation
• Alignment between bank accounts and general ledger controls

This is the structural blueprint that allows transparency to exist — not just as a promise, but as an enforceable system.

This is not about assigning blame.
It is about building something solid enough to stand on.

A strong city requires a strong financial foundation.

We are laying that foundation now.
And we will continue to show our work.