Auditors think Salt Lake City's Redevelopment Agency should take a hard look at its place in the development community.

The RDA — which has its own set of staff members who deal with loans, property purchases and building projects in seven different areas of the city — should try to hire more qualified staff members and define its priorities in rejuvenating those neighborhoods, Citygate Associates auditors wrote in their report, which they presented to the City Council on Tuesday night.

"It was clear to Citygate that the RDA could not clearly articulate the vision of what redevelopment hopes to accomplish in transforming each project area over the next decade," the report said. "Individual projects could be cited, but there was no strong connection between the project and the catalytic role it would serve in redeveloping the area."

Carlton Christensen, a city councilman and the chairman of the RDA board, said the lack of focus was something he had expected auditors to criticize.

"As projects are coming in, we need to ask ourselves, could this get done, and is this an implementation of our master plan . . . are we really enhancing this project with the RDA's participation that they couldn't do otherwise?" Christensen said. "We really have not gone through that process as scrupulously as we have in the past."

Citygate also highlighted the discrepancy in experience levels among staff members. Deputy Director Valda Tarbet's three decades with the city mean that she supervises complicated projects, manages financial information and informally trains new employees.

The agency would have difficulty replacing Tarbet with her job description — it's too much work concentrated in one job, said Dave Oka, agency director. The auditors recommended more formal training and hiring more experienced candidates for lower positions. Oka said the agency has to compete for candidates whose options include better-paying cities and more promising careers.

"As is inherent in any small organization, career paths may be limited," Oka wrote in his response to the audit. "The agency is no exception. We have lost at least one experienced project manager due to a combination of both factors."

The City Council, acting as the RDA board, and Oka will now decide which parts of the auditors' suggestions to apply.

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