City may foot bill for former auditor's travel expenses

City council is considering paying the expenses of a former employee to travel to an awards ceremony to receive an award from an international auditing organization.

Auditor General Brian Bigger and Carolyn Jodouin, a senior auditor who took another job in late 2012, will receive the 2012 Silver Knighton Award at a May 6 ceremony in Nashville, Tenn. They’re being honoured for Impact on Changes to Road Design, and audit of the city’s roads department.

Among other findings, the roads audit found problems with the way recycled asphalt was inventoried – with 30,000 tonnes unaccounted for – and with ensuring that the asphalt being used in city roads matched the quality outlined in road contracts.

Jodouin, whom Bigger said deserves a lot of the credit for the award, had planned to pay her own way to the awards ceremony. But meeting April 9, some city councillors said the municipality should pay her expenses for the trip, in recognition of her service.

Before the start of the meeting, Mayor Marianne Matichuk congratulated the pair and presented them with certificates. And Ward 3 Coun. Claude Berthiaume, the former chair of the audit committee, suggested council consider finding a way to pay for Jodouin to attend.

“I was always amazed by the good work they do,” Berthiaume said. “And even though Carolyn is no longer an employee, I wonder if there’s a way we, as city council, could help pay some of her expenditures to go to the awards.”

Staff will report back at the next city council meeting April 23 on options for paying some of Jodouin’s expenses.

Sudbury is being honoured by the North American Association of Local Auditors, a group that includes more than 300 audit departments in cities in Canada and the United States.

In a press release, the group said the awards aim to encourage excellence among auditors, and improve municipal services in the process.

“Judges from peer organizations determined that this audit was among the best of 2012,” the association said in the release.