KCRA reports today that our Sacramento City Council is “irritated” with the Utilities department over the results of a recently completed audit that exposed potential mismanagement there, as well as other improprieties such as $1,000,000 worth of missing water meters.

In fact the council is so angry with the mean ol’ utilities department, says KCRA, that they have evidently decided to :gulp: postpone a planned water rate increase! [Nooooo! Please don't postpone the rate increase!]

The casual reader might take this story at face value and nod in agreement, “Way to go, City Council!” But a just a dollop of further analysis should reveal how ridiculous–if not utterly egregious–the council’s feigned outrage is.

The Utlities Department is part of the City of Sacramento. Check the logo above if you don’t believe me. Henceforth, the council ultimately governs the utilities department. In other words–at least in theory– the buck stops at the city council. Or at least it SHOULD. The council tossing its own utilities department under the bus as it has would be like Chevron’s board of directors saying its transportation team was responsible for an oil spill! “Nope, wasn’t us. Damn ship captain. Sue him.”

Remember how Fargo previously bragged about her and the council’s accomplishments in the area of water metering and conservation–a project the same utilities department the council just bastardized is leading–to sell us on why we should re-elect her? But of course when $1,000,000 worth of water meters come up missing, she and the council would have us believe the utility department is some rogue outfit operating outside the council’s sphere of influence. Hmm.

Since some people obviously really struggle with connecting the dots, please allow me to spell out my position here: Am I saying the city council should admit culpability for the $1,000,000 missing water meters, or other issues reported in the audit? Well, yes; that’s what leaders do: They win with the TEAM, and they lose with the team.

In my opinion, the city’s pass-the-buck response to the utility department audit is just one more gallon of fuel for the tank of the Fargo-led council’s retirement plane. Through their actions and public statements the Fargo-led council continue to support Kevin Johnson’s notion that the city severely lacks ACCOUNTABILITY-ORIENTED leadership. Aspiring leaders learn the concept of accountability in Management 101–or at least they do in the private sector.

Demand better.