The Broken Clock Syndrome strikes again - In our view Dec. 15: Keep Golden Goose

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I've been following the efforts of Democratic State Auditor Brian Sonntag. He's my only guaranteed democrat vote each and every election (Though my sense of disappointment caused me to vote for more democrats in the last election (I voted for D's at Secretary of State, State Auditor, State Senator, and one House seat; I undervoted for president, congressman, a commissioner seat, Commissioner of Public Lands and Governor.))

Through the years, I've seen Brian literally identify billions (BILLIONS) in stolen, misspent, and illegally spent taxpayer dollars; only to see the legislature and the governor do little to nothing with his findings.

Here, the government's efforts to defund the one office that could arguably pay for itself is nothing more nor less then an effort to remove the irritant that is State Auditor Brian Sonntag.

Keeping him in business and implementing the will of the people in the form of the Initiative that expanded his powers should be a top priority of government. We need his office now more than ever.

The Law of Averages being what it is, The Columbian occasionally, actually, gets it right. Only slightly more frequent then a Haley's Comet fly-by, they manage to get the message. This is one of those times.

Editorials

In our view Dec. 15: Keep Golden Goose
Performance audits produce savings; even in tough economy, they should be kept

Monday, December 15 1:00 a.m.

In this time of financial stress, it doesn’t require much imagination to consider performance audits as a Golden Goose that might be killed by overzealous budget-slashers in Olympia. At this point, the $26 million that would fund the audits is on the chopping block, along with scores of cuts in programs and services across Washington.

Approved in the November 2005 general election, Initiative 900 requires performance audits be conducted on state and local agencies. The purposes are accountability for tax dollars and a guarantee that the money is spent in a cost-effective manner.

To date, the auditor’s office, at a cost of $14.9 million, has conducted 14 performance audits, and made 574 recommendations that total $4.1 billion in “financial impact.” That’s the “Golden Goose.”

Examining school district practices in Vancouver and Evergreen, the state auditor found Vancouver schools could save $8.5 million over five years and Evergreen schools could save $3.3 million in the same time, according to an Oct. 2 Columbian story.

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