The monitor the city of San Diego hired as part of its settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission notified the city that he will not have his first mandated report ready in time to meet this week’s deadline.
Instead, Stanley Keller said the SEC granted him an extension until June 8.
Upon his Jan. 16 hiring, Keller was required to deliver a report on his initial observations of the city’s financial reporting system within 120 days. That deadline came and went this month.
Keller provided Chief Financial Officer Jay Goldstone with a brief explanation in an e-mail sent yesterday:
Just to keep you informed, the SEC, at my request, approved an extension of the time for my Initial Report until June 8. I thought that this extension was appropriate in view of the considerable time required the past few weeks on Audit Committee matters and the desirability of having some of the pending matters dealt with so that they could be reflected in the report. My plan is to distribute a draft of the report about a week before it is due. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Councilwoman Donna Frye criticized Keller’s excuse, pointing to his pledge that work for the city, such as with the Audit Committee, would not impact his ability to meet SEC deadlines.
“It’s feeling like the contracts of other consultants we’ve had in the past,” Frye said.