In the April 29, 2018, issue of the Register-Guard, former City Councilors Paul Nicholson and George Brown, with the assistance of neighborhood leader David Monk and former City Councilor Bonny Bettman McCornack, write in a guest viewpoint:
It’s been 16 years since a Eugene city auditor was first proposed. Now it’s time to make it happen.
Ballot Measure 20-283 asks voters to “establish an office of an elected City Auditor to independently audit city operations and activities.” This measure authorizes the independent elected auditor’s office to conduct financial, compliance, performance, special studies or any other type of audit of all aspects of city government operations and expenditures.
The most effective government auditors are truly independent from the agencies they audit. Measure 20-283 guarantees the independence of the elected auditor because she or he will be accountable to the voters. Plus, all the authority necessary for the elected auditor to function free from city officials’ control is clearly spelled out in the measure.
The elected auditor will add transparency and accountability, which is currently missing from the city. An independent elected auditor does not change our form of government — the City Council still sets policy, but it will not be able to dictate what the auditor will or will not audit. …