When firefighters respond to the scene of a burning house, they don’t first huddle together to determine what caused the fire or who is responsible. No, the first order of business is to put out the fire. There will be time enough to address the whys and whos later.

It would be a mild overstatement to describe the city of Columbus’ financial state as a house afire.

But we cannot deny the distinct aroma of smoke when the subject of city finances emerges, as it did during Tuesday’s city council meeting.

Vice Mayor and Ward 2 councilman Joseph Mickens asked Mayor Keith Gaskin and HR Director Pat Mitchell why the council was no longer getting monthly financial reports to review before council meetings and when the reports would resume. Gaskin’s administration hasn’t provided reports to the council since December.

Without financial reports, the council is blind to the state of this year’s budget, much like Gaskin and his department heads presumably are.

Gaskin answered that the reports wouldn’t be provided until a Chief Financial Officer was hired. In comments the following day the mayor clarified that reports would be difficult to produce with current staff and that he was hesitant to rely on the accuracy of a report performed by a volunteer CFO in light of the continuing questions surrounding the city’s finances that date back to 2018.

Former CFO Deliah Vaughn resigned in September and there has not been a full-time person in that office since. City hall has relied on two volunteers to help with some CFO roles in the meantime.

The mayor said the continuing uncertainty over city finances was partly caused by the previous council and administration’s failure to adopt all of the safeguards recommended by independent consultant Mike Crowder three years ago.

The fact is that the hiring of a permanent CFO has been largely delayed by the mayor’s stubborn refusal to take “no” for an answer.

After the council twice denied Gaskin’s request in the fall to combine the CFO and COO positions as part of a restructuring plan, the mayor continued to push for his plan rather than proceed in earnest with the job descriptions and pay rates approved by the council. His attempts to get his way have continued, most recently showing up in February Hiring Committee discussions.

It’s the mayor’s job to enact decisions made by the council.

In the meantime, the search for a CFO is six months and counting.

Similarly, the mayor continues to push for a forensic audit and blames the previous administration and council for not addressing the city’s financial issues.

The previous administration bears some responsibility certainly. But eight months into his administration, the responsibility is Gaskin’s. The city’s finances are drowning and Gaskin’s response is to describe the water.

Gaskin said Wednesday that he’s looking into hiring an outside accountant to generate the monthly financial reports. How long that will take is anyone’s guess. This should have been done months ago. Volunteers are great, but if they can’t complete all the tasks, the mayor should have long ago brought in a paid individual or firm.

When a CFO is hired, there will be plenty of time to address how city finances have been mismanaged and who is to blame for it.

In the meantime, Mayor Gaskin, stop finger pointing, and put out the fire.

The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.

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