St. John's needs independent auditor general, says Simon Lono

In the wake of a controversial budget, a man who aspired to sit on St. John`s city council says the city needs an independent auditor general to keep tabs on ever-expanding spending.

In the past eight years, municipal spending has increased by roughly 50 per cent, from around $200 million to $300 million.

Lono, who ran for a seat on council in 2005 and 2009, and lost, said he's concerned that the city`s growth hasn`t paralleled that of the budget.

"We haven't seen a 50 per cent increase in our services, we haven't seen a 50 per cent increase in cost of living and we haven't seen a 50 per cent increase in the size of the city," he told CBC Radio`s On the Go Tuesday.

"So we really have to start wondering what is happening with that money."

In the provincial and federal governments, an independent auditor general reviews spending and makes annual recommendations, while an opposition party challenges government decisions.

No such checks exist at the city level, which Lono — who currently works as communications manager for Liberal MP Nick Whalen — says is troubling.

"There's no incentive within City Hall to control spending. In fact, there's every incentive to keep it going up all the time," he said.

"It's in everybody's interest not to talk about increase in spending, but everybody takes advantage of it...There's nobody who stands up and says, that's enough now, we need to get this under control."

'Embarrassment' no reason not to have auditor

He said that many of council's meetings go on behind closed doors or at inconvenient times of day.  Lono said it should be somebody's job to keep a careful eye on the city when the media and public cannot.

"For the first few years, yeah it's going to cause some pain, yeah it's going to cause some frustration, and for sure it's going to cause embarrassment," he said.

"But embarrassment and pain are no reason not to have an auditor general and in fact it gives you every reason to reinforce the idea that we need to have one."

Lono said with so many recent cuts to city services, the cost of an auditor general would be well worth it.

"You can't on one hand say you're a world class city, and then have the government structures of a small village," he said.

"People need to have confidence that money's being spent properly and raised properly."

Lono, a longtime Liberal, also ran in the 2007 provincial election in St. John's North district, but lost with only 12.4 per cent of the vote, compared to 77.5 per cent for the Progressive Conservatives.

He made a third foray into municipal politics in 2013, but withdrew his bid to be Ward 2 candidate.