COLUSA, CA (MPG) – When Gar Rourke stepped down as Colusa City Treasurer at the end of his last term in December 2012, at the age of 89, he had served 17 years in the post.
The Colusa City Council first appointed Rourke, a longtime bank manager, to the position in 1995 to fill the vacancy created by the death of City Treasurer Ed Riley. He always said he learned the job by studying the government code and attending training seminars and was only occasionally at odds with city officials and administration over investments and the handling of the public’s money.
Each month, Rourke would attend the city council meeting, sit in the audience, and walked to the podium when it came time to report orally to the Colusa City Council – and the public – the balance of the city’s checking account, the general fund cash and investment balances, investment options and the rate of the return on the city’s investments, and other fund balances that were of interest to the public, along with the published check register. He was known to occasionally caution officials about over-or-misspent funds – and sometimes disagreed with city officials on investment schemes.
Rourke worked for the electorate, not the council, the city administrator, or the finance director. He did not make or enforce city policy but was a transparent bridge that connected the citizenry and taxpayers to their money.
What changed in the 12 years since Rourke, who died in 2015, left office confuses elected first-term City Treasurer Devin Kelley and the council gadflies who date back to Roark’s lengthy tenure, because state law has not changed on the position except for an amendment in 2018 to remove gender-specific pronouns from the statutes.
“When I decided to run for this position, I came in and said, ‘could you please give me anything on the city treasurer; duties, responsibilities, expectations, anything,’ there is nothing,” Kelley told the council at their Sept. 3 meeting, when she spoke about the city’s response to the 2024 Colusa County Grand Jury report.
Kelley was out of town at a conference when the council addressed and responded to the court on Aug. 20, although she listened via zoom, taking note of a flippant response to a citizen about the treasurer’s role in city government.
According to the State of California, general law cities are required to have a city treasurer, an official responsible for managing the revenue and cash flow of the agency, banking, collection, receipt, reporting, custody, and the investment or disbursement of municipal funds, although many of the responsibilities over time have been delegated to finance departments, which even Rourke acknowledged and appreciated.
Kelley, office manager and fiscal administrator for the Colusa County District Attorney’s Office, said she takes her job as treasurer seriously, but that her required reports to the public are limited because city administration does not efficiently and willingly share information with her.
Kelley spoke to the City Council, none of whom were on the dais when Roarke was treasurer, because of issues that have surfaced by the Colusa County Grand Jury’s investigation and follow-up into the city’s handling of the public’s money, which noted in 2024 the city has made progress to correct deficiencies, but questioned the exclusion of the treasurer on the city’s finance/budget committee and lack of contact information on the city’s website.
A civil grand jury, part of the judicial branch of government, called for by both the California and U.S. Constitutions, is a group of citizens who investigate local government to ensure that it is operating efficiently and in the public’s best interest. They typically investigate county, city, and special districts and, based on its findings, recommend constructive action to improve the quality and effectiveness of local government. They do not need an invitation to investigate but may respond to citizen complaints.
“I know there are probably a couple of people in this room that probably think I turned (the city) in,” Kelley said. “I just want to put it on the record that I did not, nor have I ever, turned in a grand jury investigation request.”
Yet, for four years, Kelley has been noticeably at odds with city officials who just want her to sign checks – or not – and just go away, not speak, and leave the handling of the public’s money entirely under their control.
She will not do that.
“I give 100% and I do it right,” Kelley said, “That is just who I am. I’m not lighthearted about anything and I take it seriously – and I think what everyone does is really important.”
Kelley said Colusa’s code of ordinances mention the city treasurer only once, under the duties of the finance department, which is to “assist the city treasurer in maintaining and safely keeping all public funds and securities.”
While Kelley does provide a written report, as required by state law, and includes the city’s checking account balances and the balance of funds invested in the Local Agency Investment Fund, she said it is very limited information, based on the limited information she gets from the finance department, and does not include the rates of return on investments.
While Kelley did not accuse the city of wrongdoing, she told the council the city had a perception problem they seem unwilling to change by being more transparent by just utilizing another “set of eyes” or by accepting input and fresh ideas on financial matters by an elected official who cares and actually wants to give the city any assistance she can provide, including giving feedback on budget presentations, agenda recitals, and investment opportunities.
“This position should be utilized for the benefit of the city…,” Kelley said. “I have offered to work together rather than against each other; I offered all of that but what I got in return was either no response or no follow up.”
She also agreed with the grand jury that city officials either do not understand their 12-year-old purchasing policy – despite multiple conversations about it – or they choose to blatantly disregard it.
Kelly said she hoped, in the future, the Colusa City Council will come to see the city treasurer as “part of the city’s team and not an inconvenient state requirement.”
Colusa Councilmember Ryan Codorniz was receptive to Kelley’s offer and hopes to discuss it further.
Mayor Daniel Vaca was also receptive to taking public comments on Kelley’s report, which was at his discretion.
“The thing that is important to remember is that (Kelley) is an elected official, just like this governing body,” said Colusa resident Don Bransford. “They are hired guns (motioning to city staff). This (motioning to Kelley) is an independent elected official that can look at what the finances are, independent of the staff; not that they are going to do anything wrong, but it gives you different eyes.”
Bransford said he believes the community wants its elected treasurer to be a part of a process that allows the city council to make financial decisions in the best interest of the public and be transparent about them.
In Williams, the city treasurer is part of the finance committee, which includes two city council members, the city administrator, and the finance director, whose roles are to provide input before taking recommendations to the city council for discussion or action.
As state law allows the treasurer to utilize finance officials to provide the monthly report and summary of cash and investments, in compliance with the agency’s investment policy, many California cities consider the role of a city treasurer obsolete due to sophisticated accounting software and finance tools.