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,4 EN HILLS MEMORANDUM DATE: December 14, 2005 AGENDA ITEM 3.E TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Michelle Wolfe, City Administrator SUBJECT: Fraud Case: Response to Residents At the December 12 City Council meeting, there was a great deal of discussion regarding the desire to provide information to our residents about the alleged theft of City funds which was made public during the past week. Suggestions included sending a letter to all of our residents, including it in the newsletter or mailing sooner than that, and putting a message on the WEB page. There was also discussion regarding content of the information. I previously sent you a copy of the media statement that was provided to the press (another copy is attached). Below is the statement I read at the City Council meeting on Monday: "The City Council and staff are profoundly disappointed and dismayed by the actions taken by a former employee. We have in place a series of safeguards and processes including an annual audit to protect the City from incidents like this and we have taken additional steps to further strengthen our processes so this type of incident would not occur in the future. The City is insured against the losses so the impact on the City budget will be minimal." While the information about the case is public,we still need to be careful what we say and how we say it. To that end, I believe review of the material by both the City Attorney and the Media Consultant would be wise. I will prepare a draft statement for the WEB site, which can be edited and can also be updated as new information is available. This same statement can serve as a starting point for a letter to residents, if the Council desires. REQUESTED ACTION Provide direction to staff about the type and timing of communication to the public regarding the case of alleged theft of City funds. d Metro-inet.us'�ardenhills\Admin\City Administrator\Memo\2005\12-14-05 Memo RE Fraud Case.doc