The November 18, 2025, meeting was a study in contrasts: a significant win for the physical safety of our seniors, followed by a total breakdown in the transparency of our fiscal records.

Progress at the Senior Center

I began my comments on a positive note, thanking the Board for taking action on the Senior Center flooring. After months of advocacy and reports of seniors falling, it is a relief to see this issue finally being addressed. Our seniors deserve a building that is safe and well-maintained, and I am glad to see that message was heard.

The “Photocopy” Problem

The bulk of my testimony, however, focused on the Approval of Accounts. Because the Finance/Audit Committee was sidelined this month by the ongoing audit, I was curious if anyone had actually looked at the 141-page budget report. What I found was baffling:

• Scanned Cash: The public documents included scanned images of physical $5, $10, and $20 bills. It’s an odd choice for a government document and raises immediate questions about professional record-keeping.
• The “Puzzle” Format: The General Ledger report arrived as a series of 22-page “slices”—left, middle, and right sides of a single table. To read one line of data, you would essentially have to tape three pages together.
• The Tax Gap: Our delinquent tax reports currently show only a total balance. I urged the Board to break this down by tax type and age (30/60/90 days) so the public can understand the true state of our collections.

The Board Responds

I was encouraged to hear Supervisor Cullers and Henry echo my frustrations. Supervisor Cullers noted that she personally found the format difficult to navigate, stating, “As much as I like puzzles, I didn’t like this one.” Even more importantly, the Board acknowledged that:

1. The reports are not currently “user-friendly.”
2. Moving away from rigid PDFs to a more flexible format is a necessary “long-term fix.”
3. They will carve out extra time at the December Finance/Audit Committee meeting specifically to address these reporting problems.

Final Thought

Transparency isn’t just about dumping 141 pages of scans onto a website; it’s about providing data that the public and the Board can actually use to make decisions. When reports are fragmented and physical cash is being scanned into the ledger, it suggests a system that is struggling to keep up with modern standards. I’ll be at that December committee meeting to ensure the “puzzles” are replaced with clear, searchable data.

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Watch the Discussion

• 0:08 – Thanking the Board for fixing the Senior Center floors.
• 0:25 – Raising the issue of scanned currency in public records.
• 1:12 – Describing the “left, middle, and right” split-page table format.
• 2:33 – Supervisor Cullers admitting the report format is a “puzzle” she didn’t like.
• 3:53 – The Board agreeing to address reporting formats in December.