Divided Council Retains Auditing Firm

The Fountain Valley City Council voted 3-2 Tuesday night to allow auditing firm Mayer Hoffman McCann to finish out its five-year contract with the city, including this year's audit, before the city goes in seach of another firm.

"It's been said that the best time to stick with someone is when they're under the microscope," council member Larry Crandall said. "This firm is more under the microscope than anyone in the history of California. Lord knows they're going to be looking under every rock."

Crandall, Mayor Pro Tem John Collins and council member Michael Vo voted in favor of honoring the remaining year of the contract. Several cities around Orange County have already opted out of their contracts with Mayer Hoffman McCann, which served as the auditing firm for the infamously ousted city government in Bell. Mayor Steve Nagel and council member Mark McCurdy voted to terminate Fountain Valley's deal.

"Perception can sometimes lead people to think a certain way about things," Nagel said. "I'd like to see us go out for [requests for proposal] at this time. I will not support keeping the firm of Mayer Hoffman McCann."

The council also heard from several residents near Tamura Elementary School, which has been a hotbed of controversy since resident Tim McDonald came to the council earlier this year requesting that the city take a closer look at some of the parking and other issues associated with youth sports played on the school's fields. The city has since closed Field 1 at Tamura to youth sports practices, prompting other area residents to seek the council's help in reaching a compromise.

Kyle Fister presented the council with a petition signed by 113 area residents asking that the field be reopened for use by smaller children, citing the lack of available practice space. Another resident insisted that the presence of large dogs in the area, as well as older men loitering there after school, was a larger concern. But McDonald, who owns two large Rottweilers, said his neighbors' complaints about the dogs were intended to single him out, telling the council that he had been visited by police and cited after a game of fetch.

"This isn't about dogs," he said. "This is about silencing complaints. How nice it must be to live on the street behind us and tell us we don't have a problem."