It has been about a year since official news broke of  an alleged embezzlement of $6.4 million from the City by a former employee. Subsequently the amount was found to be $5.9 million.

This past week the City of Pasadena received the full $5 million of our insurance claim.

The City will continue to pursue the perpetrator in criminal court and all other legal causes of action to recover every cent. Will the City of Pasadena be able to recover the currently lost $900,000 and all the costs that have gone into and will go into recovering the money? Probably not, a full accounting of the cost of this embezzlement should be requested by council-members, as a show that transparency is being taken seriously.

Over the past twelve months, actions taken by the City to recover the funds and ensure this cannot happen again.

A total of sixty-nine recommendations by KPMG and the Community Task Force are being implemented to strengthen the organization.

This embezzlement shook the City to its core. It resulted in significant changes in how things operate at City Hall.

Are things really better as a result of the embezzlement?  One thing for sure, the City is searching for a new city manager.