Denver’s auditor lashes out at Mayor Mike Johnston over proposed budget cuts: ‘Stop interfering’

Denver s elected auditor has lambasted Mayor Mike Johnston for slashing his budget writing in a new letter that he doesn t believe Johnston has the authority to do so Mr Mayor your office and the Finance Department must stop interfering with the Auditor s Office and stop preventing me from doing my job Auditor Timothy O Brien wrote in the Thursday evening letter according to a copy obtained by The Denver Post The Denver Auditor s Office which is established in the city charter is charged with serving as a check on the mayor s office and other city personnel O Brien s performance audits have been critical of Johnston at times including harsh reviews of the way he runs his homelessness initiative Under the mayor s budget proposal distributed Monday O Brien s office would lose almost with its million proposed budget representing about a decrease from this year That decision comes as the mayor s office is making broad cuts across city administration because of an anticipated million shortfall in next year s budget Last month Johnston and city leaders laid off employees and eliminated hundreds of vacant positions In lean economic times we must balance the budget just like Denver families have to and we will continue to work with the auditor to deliver a strong outcome without cuts to core constituents services declared Jon Ewing a spokesman for the mayor s office But O Brien s letter highlights disagreement over the mayor s authority under the charter While one provision implies the mayor must adopt a budget proposal from the auditor another part of the charter cited by Johnston s office gives the mayor and the City Council wide latitude over the budgeting process O Brien argued that he must have the discretion to decide what is best for my office adding Considering we have multiple auditors who are also certified community accountants we are well positioned to manage our finances responsibly O Brien s letter was sent two days after Denver Clerk and Recorder Paul L pez who s also separately elected made similar protests about his own office s budget cuts Under Johnston s proposal the clerk s office budget would decrease by about compared to this year but it would lose about million or nearly compared to the budget the last year there was a major electoral process In the midterm elections in Colorado will impact the makeup of the congressional delegation and the future of the state with the governor s office and state legislative races among those on the ballot The mayor s proposal will decimate voter services in L pez noted Tuesday according to a recording of his news conference This will jeopardize turnout it will disenfranchise voters He stated the city would have to reduce the number of drop boxes and polling centers as a aftermath of the cuts It is an absolute overreach L pez mentioned Majority of other independent offices and agencies will also see cuts including a cut to the budget of the Office of Human Materials and a reduction to the Board of Ethics The City Council s budget one of a inadequate exceptions is set to increase by Related Articles Denver composting rules to go into effect four years after voters approved them Denver Mayor Mike Johnston proposes budget with spending cuts no merit raises for the bulk employees What stands between Broncos and a stadium at Burnham Yard A neighborhood deal council votes and land cleanup Neighbors of Elati Village want public relocated after RV fire destroyed wagon Broncos Journal Six Burnham Yard-related considerations after a busy week Citizens hearings on the budget will begin Monday as city agencies present their budgets to the council The council will have an opportunity to propose amendments to the budget in the coming weeks before it is finalized in November At least one council member Flor Alvidrez attended Lopez s news conference Tuesday and stood behind him O Brien announced that if the mayor s office doesn t restore his budget he will request that the council override the budget proposal through an amendment Still he commented he would try to trim back writing I ask for the Auditor s Office budget to remain level with the budget And I will commit by the end of next year my office will make budget savings equal to the right now proposed budget Johnston cautioned earlier this week that any changes to his proposal could trigger major impacts If there were going to be amendments that were run that reduce allocations from certain departments those departments would face either cuts to core services or layoffs Johnston commented Monday Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter The Spot