Home » Elections, From The Readers, Letters to the Editor » Dear Editor: SFD Candidate Forum

Dear Editor: SFD Candidate Forum

On September 27th, I attended a Candidate Forum  for the SFD Governing Board election, sponsored by the League of Women Voters, where Mr.  Demme, in response to a written question dealing with his request for a forensic audit, stated that the regular yearly external audit presently done of the SFD, only consisted of the audit firm looking  at the financial statements prepared by staff,  reviewing that report and signing  off on it. That may be the case in the private sector, but when it comes to governmental entities, it’s a completely different process.

Let me preface this by stating  that on June 29, 2010, I spent most of the day being a member of a panel of reviewers interviewing  five qualified audit firms who responded to a Request for Proposals ( RFP ) to conduct  an audit of the Sedona Fire District financial statements for the Fiscal Year starting July 1, 2009 and ending June 30, 2010.


The panel consisted of Board Member Don Harr, City of Cottonwood Finance Director Rudy Rodriguez, Business Director Karen Daines, Finance Manager Sandi Schmidt and myself, a District resident  and  former city finance director for over thirty years.


By the  end of the day, we all concluded that Walker and Armstrong, LLP was our choice to conduct the upcoming audit. It should be noted that Mr. Walker , one of the principals in this firm, has also served as a partner with Arthur Andersen and Co, from 1986 through 2002 prior to joining this firm. Walker and Armstrong, one of the top 10 CPA firms in the State of Arizona, is highly respected by its peers and has among many of its clients, the City of Flagstaff and Yavapai County.

In their annual audit they will “obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether from (1) errors, (2) fraudulent financial reporting, (3)  misappropriation of assets, or  (4)  violations of laws or governmental regulations that are attributable to the entity or to acts by management or employees acting on behalf of the entity.”  During the audit they “will communicate to management and those charged with governance internal control related matters that are required to be communicated under AICPA professional standards.”

From what I understand during the months of September and October of each year :

•    SFD finance staff sends an electronic file of their general ledger and trial balance by fund.

•    That is followed up by sending two file boxes to the auditors with minutes, bank reconciliations, county funds reconciliations, etc.

•    The audit firm then sends SFD staff a list of invoices and proof of payments that they want to have pulled from the files and have ready when they are on-site. At this time, the auditing firm sends out confirmation letters to SFD’s banks and attorneys.

•    Once on site, the audit firm analyzes all of the documents they asked to have ready for review.  They also will interview various levels of employees up to and including the Fire Chief.

•    A copy of the audit with other pages required by the counties are then submitted to both Yavapai and Coconino by December 27th (180 days after the fiscal year ends).

As one can see, this is far from being a “rubber stamp” type audit. Candidates Demme, Blouert and  Erick need to understand that those of us entrusted with fiduciary responsibility, like SFD’s Business Director, Karen Daines, rely on the annual external audit to give us an additional check and balance on what we do in the financial area and take it very personally when accused of “cooking the books.”

11 Comments

  1. Abe Koniarsky says:

    Forgot to sign my name at the end of this entry. Didn’t know I was supposed to do .
    it. Abe Koniarsky

  2. Eileen says:

    GOOD JOB. HOPE PEOPLE READ IT.

  3. J. Locke says:

    Fire Districts must comply with A.R.S. §48-805(A)(2) and §48-807(E) with regard to the budget process.

    Found on the Yavapai County web site. Surely this is an important factor in determining credibility?

  4. Abe Koniarsky says:

    Thanks for the reference, J. Locke. A.R.S. §48-805(A)(9) specifically states: ” Retain a certified public accountant to perform an annual audit of district books”.

  5. Integrity Matters says:

    Integrity Matters- Sedona Fire Board Candidates LIVE STREAMING OF SEDONA FIRE BOARD & SCHOOL BOARD DEBATES AT DORR BEGINS OCTOBER 5, 2010 AT 5:30PM
    from http://www.sedona.biz

  6. Integrity Matters says:

    There is a great deal of misinformation circulating in the community about the Sedona Fire District. Please take the time to contact Fire Chief Hazime to get the facts. He can be reached at 928.204.8924 NHazime@sedonafire.org

    Make sure that you are an informed voter!

  7. Integrity Matters says:

    In case you have missed last night’s live broadcast of the Candidate Forum sponsored by DORR, here is your chance to see it in its entirety.

    Rebroadcast: Sedona Fire and School Board Debates at DORR on Oct 5, 2010
    http://sedona.biz/

  8. Integrity Matters says:

    There is a salary list which is still being distributed around the Fire District. This document and contents were not provided by the Sedona Fire District (SFD). This document is false, manipulated, misleading, and also violates employees’ privacy. Our employees’ pay includes many different types of compensation, including uniform allowance, per diems, vacation buyback, and non-district deployments, which are not even paid by SFD. All of these types of compensation are industry standard practice and are not at all unique to SFD. We certainly want to provide accurate information and this can only come from the Sedona Fire District.

    The Fire Chief and Executive Team of Sedona Fire District closely monitor earnings for all staff. The following individual earnings categories are independent of each other and would never be combined as individual’s earnings. These categories are very different and are projected and budgeted as independent line items for cost accounting management. Some of the items are of no cost to the tax payers, such as the non- district overtime and reimbursement for taxable expenses. The misleading document circulating does not show the breakdown of every line item as described below.

    Base Wages
    Salary schedules are developed based on industry comparables with other like fire service agencies.

    Administration Overtime
    This overtime includes: special projects, meeting deadlines, and emergency repairs for apparatus and communication infrastructure, etc. The Fire Chief, the Executive Team, and the Division Managers are exempt from overtime.

    Backfill Overtime
    This overtime is to maintain our mandatory minimum staffing. We have a maximum operational daily staffing of 24 firefighters and a minimum of 20 operational firefighters. If the number drops below 20, there is an automated call back system that will allow us to bring the number back up to 20. We maintain a certain number of time-off, per day, to minimize callbacks.
    If you look at any agency that provides a 24/7/365 operation with mandatory minimum staffing requirements, such as police departments, sheriff offices, hospitals, etc. they will have overtime budgets.

    Discretionary Overtime
    This overtime includes mandatory recertification for our Emergency Medical Services, Wild land Firefighting, Technical Rescue, etc. This also allows for discretionary overtime related to special projects and training. This overtime is only approved based on the Fire District’s needs and if the training cannot be accomplished while on duty.

    Non-District Overtime
    The overtime is 100% reimbursement to the Fire District for personnel sent to fight out-of-district wild land fires and /or coverage for those out-of-district wild land assignments. This includes a Contractual agreement between Sedona Fire District and the Arizona State Land Department, which governs our participation in this regional response effort. This regional resource would also assist the 168 square miles of the Sedona Fire District, if requested.

    Benefit Earnings
    This includes longevity pay, vacation leave, or sick leave payouts (for over the cap payouts at separation or annual requests for leave buy back – all paid at current hourly base rate).

    Reimbursable Taxable Expenses
    This is taxable income to reimburse certain employees for cell phone bills, lunch per diems at non-SFD sponsored training, uniform allowance for required protective gear or standard uniforms.

    We cannot ignore or remove the risks associated with the fire service; however, we certainly can be prepared and proactive in managing and being fiscally responsible to the Sedona Fire District and the community we serve. For the facts, please contact the Sedona Fire District at 928-282-6800 and don’t be misinformed about your fire district.

  9. Phil says:

    On page 3A of today’s OTHER paper, Dave Blauert, commenting about the SFD fire association, is quoted as saying ” The union has destroyed this country.” A large number of employees within our district are members of a variety of unions(hospital workers, supermarket employees, teachers, police, sheriff deputies, fire, etc). What would they be earning if it weren’t for the unions watching out for their wages and benefits? Have we all forgotten why they began in the first place? Doesn’t Mr. Blauert remember his days starting out in the construction industry? Since when is it a crime to be a union member and get decent comparable wages and benefits? . I suggest that those of us in this District who are members of any union think twice before seriously considering voting for such a slate.

  10. Sue says:

    You are so right Phil. Guess Blauert wants people to work for free. Guess the wages he pays his people are low, or does he just hire illegals?

  11. Tom Longo says:

    On September 28, Fire District Chief Hazime hosted a “Chief’s Chat “at Station 3 in the VOC. That meeting was intended for the taxpayers to ask the Chief pertinent questions of interest that would help them understand what happens in the fire district and why. Instead, it was immediately taken over by the rantings and ravings of Mr. Lowell Johnson and his slate against the Chief and his staff.

    Their attitude seemed to be one of “don’t confuse me with facts, my mind is already made up.” Several people in the audience, disgusted by their behavior, left. When some people in the audience tried to get them to act sensibly, they were told to be quiet. That was a real sign of democracy in action, wasn’t it?

    Mr. Johnson’s slate must feel very desperate to resort to this type of tactic in order to persuade the taxpayers to vote for them. It’s obvious to many of us within the District that this seems to be the only alternative left to someone used to having his way on everything, including manipulating people around. When his slate resorts to stealing and spray painting campaign signs from the opposition, (verbally) attacking the Chief and his professional staff, preventing others from speaking out at a community meeting, it gives the rest of us a very good idea of the type of slate they represent!

    In addition, it was also interesting that at the DORR Candidate Forum held on October 5, 2010 Mr. Blauert , commenting about the SFD fire association, was quoted as saying ” The union has destroyed this country.” A large number of employees within our district are members of a variety of unions (hospital workers, supermarket employees, teachers, police, sheriff deputies, fire, etc). What would they be earning if it weren’t for the unions watching out for their wages and benefits? Have we all forgotten why they began in the first place? Doesn’t Mr. Blauert remember his days starting out in the construction industry? Since when is it a crime to be a union member and get decent comparable wages and benefits? . It is suggested that those in this District who are members of any union think twice before seriously considering voting for such a slate.

    It was also interesting to note that while he introduced himself at this Candidate Forum Mr. Blauert, stated several times that “there would be no Posse Ground if it wasn’t for Dave Blauert”. Actually, Posse Ground was in existence well before his involvement. In addition, he mentioned that he was instrumental in getting the first ambulance in 1963. According to historical archives Sedona’s first ambulance(also known as “Big Bertha”) was donated by the Business and Professional Women’s Club (BPW) of Sedona in March 1963. Why is he taking credit for what many hard working volunteers devoted many hours to work on these very worthy causes?

    Mr. Demme, is telling the people of Sedona that he doesn’t want to “slash” and “destroy” the District’s budget. What Joe Q. Public doesn’t realize is that through his hidden agenda, he really means to do some slashing and destroying to an outstanding fire district with employees who do an exemplary job. He and the rest of his slate have made some slanderous remarks filled with misinformation that is meant to put doubts in the minds of some of the gullible SFD voters.

    Mrs Erick was quoted in the RRN that her only concern is to cut the budget, not the quality of work by firefighters and and EMS. In addition, Mrs. Erick and Mr. Demme have reversed their strong opinions about NOT building a Fire Station at the Chapel and FOR privatization of ambulance/EMS service, once it was no longer popular to do so.
    Are these the type of individuals we want to elect to the SFD Governing Board? Think very carefully before you cast your ballot!

    Sedona is comprised of people with common sense, who are intelligent and accomplished people. These type of people want facts, figures and proof about all of the false allegations that are being made. They also want to have the best fire and EMS services available that we can afford.

    SFD taxpayers reading this should seriously consider and vote the slate of Fishel, Fitzpatrick and Montgomery. We have three highly educated and accomplished men who are logical, broad-minded, fair, and very sensible people who will get the job done professionally without any mudslinging and misinformation. We will finally have transparency, fiscal accountability and no more back room politics!

    Tom Longo
    Sedona, AZ

Leave a Reply

Copyright © 2008-2017 · Sedona Eye · All Rights Reserved · Posts · Comments · Facebook · Twitter ·