Council authorizes audit of government

Denise Cardinal

Tuesday, Aug. 26, 1997 | 10:09 a.m.

Jerry Newfarmer's job is to ensure that government efficiency is not an oxymoron.

Newfarmer's company, Management Partners Inc. of Ohio, will conduct a management study of the Las Vegas city manager's office and City Council staff.

The firm's work, expected to get under way next month, was authorized Monday by the City Council.

Newfarmer said the company's 12 employees are all former city or county employees, most of them with experience as department heads and city or county managers.

After reviewing procedures of the city's top echelon, for which it will be paid $35,000, the company may be retained to review other departments.

"Most of the cities have more than one phase," Newfarmer said. "We suspect that there will be sufficient savings to more than pay for the cost. That's our experience without exception."

Several other cities have used Management Partners in the three years it has been around. San Diego, Oakland, Calif., Wichita, Kan., Kansas City, Mo., and Baltimore are among them. Newfarmer is also working extensively with the Washington, D.C., city government, which he said is in serious need of an overhaul.

"We asked for a management review of our water department," said San Diego Deputy City Manager Coleman Conrad. "We made some of the changes he suggested and things have been going smoother. We're satisfied with his work."

The Las Vegas City Council doesn't expect any less.

"We wanted to find a group that could give us an objective look at ourselves," said Mayor Jan Laverty Jones. "It's very difficult to audit yourself."

Jones said this sort of evaluation is necessary in any organization -- especially government. Council members agreed.

"When you don't do this, that's when you run into $100,000 screwdrivers," said Councilman Larry Brown, who recently campaigned on the premise of making government more efficient. "It's better to do this than just privatize everything."