Let’s not mince words: The Office Of State Auditor has extraordinary potential to promote accountability and transparency in state government. The State Auditor, the last two in particular, have instead opted to cover up clear violations of state law and policy, and have served as agents for the Delaware Way. One, Tom Wagner, covered up all sorts of shenanigans, claimed that he didn’t have the tools to investigate them, and never bothered even when he had the authority to investigate. The current auditor, Kathleen McGuiness, built what passes for her political career by cozying up to elected officials, figuratively and, in the case of Ernie Lopez, literally. She is a Vanity Candidate who now holds an office for which she is singularly unqualified.
This does not have to be. The statute that created the office provides the office with powers that could go a long way to cleaning up any governmental and/or agency malfeasance that is uncovered.
Ҥ 2906 Duties of the Auditor of Accounts.
(a) The Auditor of Accounts shall conduct postaudits of all the financial transactions of all state agencies. Insofar as possible the audits shall be made no less frequently than biennially.
(b) At least quarterly during each fiscal year, the Auditor of Accounts shall arrange for an audit to determine that the books and records maintained by the office of the Secretary of Finance are kept in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and are reconciled with the various bank accounts. In conjunction therewith, the Auditor of Accounts shall reconcile the records maintained by the office of the Secretary of Finance with the fund balances maintained and reported by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
(c) The Auditor of Accounts shall have sole responsibility for the arrangements under which the agency postaudits shall be conducted and for the selection of certified public accountants who shall make the postaudits. No other state agency or member, official or employee thereof shall have any part in, or responsibility for, the selection of the certified public accountants, nor shall they make any arrangements, agreements or contracts for the employment of the certified public accountants for the purpose of making agency postaudits.
(d) The expenses incurred for the performance of such agency postaudits upon authorization of the Auditor of Accounts shall be charged:
(1) To general fund appropriations of the General Assembly to the Office of Auditor of Accounts for Audits of general fund activity;
(2) To capital appropriations of the General Assembly to the several agencies for audits of capital fund activity; and
(3) To general fund appropriations and/or special fund accounts for audits of special fund activity. If there is any question as to the proper accounts to be charged, the question shall be resolved by agreement between the Auditor of Accounts and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
(e) This section shall not affect § 5109 of Title 14 which shall remain in full force and effect; however, any other provision which stands in conflict with this section shall be null and void.
(f) The Auditor of Accounts shall conduct postaudits of local school district tax funds budget and expenditures annually. The results of the audit shall be submitted to the local board, the State Board of Education, the office of Controller General and the local libraries within said school district. Expenses incurred for such postaudits herein authorized shall be borne by the local school districts.
(g) The Auditor of Accounts shall conduct postaudits of all agencies, associations and funds created directly or indirectly by the provisions of Title 18 or by the Insurance Commissioner.
(h) The Auditor of Accounts shall conduct audits of the State-funded portion of the finances of the University of Delaware as authorized by § 5109 of Title 14. The contractor conducting the audit shall be selected jointly by the University of Delaware and the Auditor of Accounts.
29 Del. C. 1953, § 2906; 54 Del. Laws, c. 39, § 9; 56 Del. Laws, c. 322, § 1; 57 Del. Laws, c. 45, § 1; 65 Del. Laws, c. 263, § 1; 68 Del. Laws, c. 317, § 1; 68 Del. Laws, c. 428, § 1; 69 Del. Laws, c. 64, § 79; 73 Del. Laws, c. 310, § 8; 75 Del. Laws, c. 88, § 21(13).;
§ 2907 Scope of audits.
(a) The audits shall be sufficiently comprehensive to provide, but not limited to, assurance that reasonable efforts have been made to collect all moneys due the State, that all moneys collected or received by any employee or official have been deposited to the credit of the State and that all expenditures have been legal and proper and made only for the purposes contemplated in the funding acts or other pertinent regulations.
(b) The audits shall be made in conformity with generally accepted auditing principles and practices.”
That, to me, provides the office with a whole lot of authority, authority that generally has not been used. Tom Wagner whined that he just didn’t have the resources. Of course, he didn’t want to have the resources. He was as comfortable to venal public officials as a pair of Bill Roth’s old shoes.
As to Kathleen McGuiness, perhaps her singular achievement, other than having an impact on Ernie Lopez’ family and residence (Easter Egg Alert), was to release a pathetic ‘report’ on Odyssey Charter. An utter whitewash by someone who has (figuratively this time) been in bed with charter schools. She is not a serious elected official.
You may be saying to yourselves, OK, Steve, what do you want us to do? I want you, one of you, to run for state auditor on a platform of serving the people of this state by using the office to bring transparency and honesty to state government. You most certainly don’t have to be a CPA. McGuiness is not a CPA. You just need critical thinking skills and a desire to protect Delawareans from waste, fraud and abuse. The curiosity of an investigative reporter wouldn’t hurt, either. After all, you will hire CPA’s who can carry out your vision, along with the specifically-enumerated requirements of the office.
So, you may be saying, ‘OK, Steve, but I’ve never run for office before and have no idea how to do it’. No problem. While Network Delaware can’t endorse you, they can and will train motivated candidates who are running for the right reasons. Their track record is awesome. In fact, the leader of Network Delaware, Drew Serres, was our choice as the person who was Most Valuable To The Progressive Cause In Delaware for 2020. If you are interested in endorsements and support, you should get in touch with the Delaware Working Families Party. They are currently actively recruiting candidates for the 2022 cycle. Their 2020 track record also was, wait for it, AWESOME.
So, if you have a well-developed sense of right-and-wrong, and if you are committed to public service, we’ve given you the road map. Time to set your GPS for 2022.