Office of Social Responsibility Audit Committee Report-Back  10.06.09 

Background: The Office of Social Responsibility (OSR) completely concurs with the findings and
recommendations of the internal audit. For background, this was  a new department established
in January, 2008, with a Director hired who was new to the Port. The new Director did not have
the proper training and orientation to the numerous policies and procedures, and the OSR
Manager also lacked proper knowledge of some of the procedures. The first administrative staff
for OSR was hired in September, 2008. A year of change also included a new Central Procurement
Office (CPO) with new procedures.   All in all, this contributed to some of the inconsistency in
adhering to and knowledge of these Port policies and procedures. 
OSR has to strengthened controls to ensure that the entire department has the knowledge
necessary to comply with Port policies, procedures, and guidelines.  Below is the departmental 
response noted in the Internal Audit Report dated July 7, 2009, and the updated actions. 
Management review of each of the major policies and procedures relating to
disbursements and procurements. 
o   OSR Director, Manager, and Administrative Specialist met and reviewed
each specific policy and procedure.
Administrative staff will review the major policies and procedures and draft a
summary of the major highlights in an easy reference format. 
o Administrative Specialist prepared an "OSR Purchasing Procedures Check-
List and Summary" that highlighted each major form and the specific policy
and procedure that it referenced. 
Meet with entire OSR team to review the major policies and procedures and a form
for each team member to sign. 
o   Each team member reviewed the Checklist and Summary and signed off that
they had read each individual policy. Those covered included: AC -1 and 2
Procedures; AC-4 Policy; CPO-1 Policy; Promotional Hosting; PUR-1b, 1c, 1d,
and 1e Procedures. 
Additional checks and balances on disbursements and procurements between OSR
Manager and Administrative Specialist staff to double-check for accuracy. 
o   OSR Manager and Administrative Specialist meet regularly and the Manager
double-checks all procurements and disbursements. 
Additional form to attach to disbursements to accommodate the additional required
explanations. 
o   OSR has attached instructions to the forms to ensure proper explanations for
disbursements.
More direct involvement by the Director through regular meetings with the
Manager and Administrative Specialist to ensure that procedures are being properly
followed. 
o   OSR Director meets bi-weekly with Manager and Administrative Specialist to
ensure that procedures are being properly followed.

Detailed Findings                          Corrective Actions Taken 
We noted that the Office of Social Responsibility's      Management carefully reviewed each audit finding to
disbursement practices are not in compliance with     determine trends which related to errors and need for
Port policies and procedures.                          understanding of policies and procedures. Met with 
OSR team to discuss the specific Audit findings on
8/13/09. 
Six receipts that were missing, not properly            Met with team and discussed the importance of
itemized, or excluded from the applicable expense     turning in all itemized receipts. Reviewed how to
report.                                                  correct the itemization and reporting with
Administrative Specialist and Manager. 
Four disbursements in which an improper payment     Meet with Manager and Administrative Specialist on
method was used. (All four were also coded to the      a monthly basis to review procedures and discuss
wrong account.)                                        any questions/concerns relating to disbursements
and procurements. 
Administrative Specialist uses account code sheet to
check entries and the accounting web page to
ensure the proper payment form is submitted.
Manager double-checks before signing. 
Nine disbursements related to Trade and              On 8/14/09, OSR Director sent an e-mail reminder to
Community Development that were not properly      all team members with directions to submit all Trade
pre-approved by General Counsel.                     Development requests to Craig Watson at a minimum
of 30 days prior to an event and that no late requests
will be allowed. 
The available documentation did not always identify   Entire team had a Q & A session to discuss when to
the direct benefit of each promotional hosting         use a Promotional Hosting form and how to complete
disbursement, as required by the State Auditor's       the document properly. They were also directed to
office. Management was able to justify each           justify each event following the specific guidelines. 
incident; however, the documentation did not
clearly identify how the disbursement was going to
influence business at the Port. 
We noted that the Office of Social Responsibility's       8/10/09 - Administrative staff created a summary
disbursement practices are not in compliance with       form in an easy reference format.
Port policies and procedures.                            8/13/09  Met with team to review/discuss OSR
Purchasing Procedures. 
9/25/09 - Each team member read and signed the
OSR Purchasing Procedures, which includes the
Port's policies and procedures related to travel,
purchasing and procurement. 

It would be the OSR Director's expectation that if another audit were conducted a year from now, that
there would be no exceptions found. 


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