“State auditor hopefuls debate transparent governing” |
| State auditor hopefuls debate transparent governing Posted: 18 Oct 2010 01:31 PM PDT The job description on the Iowa Auditor of State website is fairly straightforward: count the state's money, make sure it's being spent as intended and investigate when there are allegations that it isn't. But the Republican incumbent, David Vaudt, and his Democratic challenger, Jon Murphy, both think other factors are involved. Vaudt has taken a PowerPoint presentation on the road throughout the state, showing what he believes to be "bad budget processes." He even got in hot water with his own party over those beliefs. "When I took office in 2003, the Republicans controlled both houses of the Legislature. I pointed out (the bad budget process) to the leaders," he said. "I criticized using one-time money to pay for ongoing expenses. I represent the taxpayers, not the Legislature." Vaudt also said Democrats are doing the same thing "but at a far different magnitude." Murphy disagrees with Vaudt's claims of nonpartisanship and said his opponent could do a better job helping taxpayers understand the state's finances. Appointed by Gov. Chet Culver to oversee the distribution of federal stimulus money, Murphy said he's created a website that helps people track where the money goes."Go to recovery.iowa.gov, and you can see how these dollars are being spent," he said. As auditor, Murphy said he'd create a similar web tool for taxpayers and "give Iowans a more transparent state government." "My opponent said transparency is not his responsibility," Murphy said. "His website looks like something written by accountants for accountants. Auditor Vaudt has never tried to expand the ways the auditor protects people's money. He doesn't have the background that would prompt him to ask those questions." Vaudt said it's already the job of the Iowa Department of Administration to track state spending. "I'd remind my opponent that the federal government charged the executive branch to (follow spending)," Vaudt said. "It's not the auditor's responsibility." Murphy has challenged Vaudt's "partial audit" of the state books this year, which he said could jeopardize the state's credit rating, lead to higher borrowing costs and ultimately hit taxpayers in their pocketbooks. Vaudt said his department took a 34 percent hit after the state's budget-cutting moves last year, which "limited the resources we have." "We carried out our primary responsibilities, but we have to allocate resources where we can," he said. Bob Zientara can be reached at (515) 663-6961, or rzientara@amestrib.com.
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