May 2, 2022
Thinking Citizen Blog — Elected Auditors! Who Knew! Who Should Know? Why?
Thinking Citizen Blog — Sunday is Political Process, Campaign Strategy, and Candidate Selection Day
Today’s Topic: Elected Auditors! Who Knew! Who Should Know? Why?
This week I learned that there is an election campaign going on in Massachusetts for the position of state auditor! Who knew that the job of auditor could be an elected position? I didn’t. Is auditing a partisan function? Should it be? So I decided to learn a bit more about the status of this job across the country. Have you ever voted for a state auditor in an election for a reason other than party loyalty? If so, what was that reason? Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
ELECTED VERSUS APPOINTED — a map
1. 24 states have elected auditors.
2. 24 states have appointed auditors
3. 2 states have neither — New York and Tennessee.
NB: In New York and Tennessee the audit function falls to the state comptroller. Does this make a difference?
LEGISLATIVE VERSUS EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OR BOTH
1. 33 states have executive auditors. (orange)
2. 23 states have legislative auditors. (yellow)
3. 8 states have both! (Green)
PARTY AFFILIATION OF CURRENT AUDITORS — red (Republican), blue (Democrat), yellow (independent)
THE CASE OF CONNECTICUT, SALARY COMPARISONS
1. Connecticut: each of the major parties nominate their own auditor who then share the office!!! Really? Why not?
2. As of 2013, the range in salaries was from $198,000 in Texas to neighbor Arkansas $54,305. This is a ratio of roughly 4 to 1. But the ratio of their respective populations is roughly 9 to 1 (25 million versus 2.9 million).
FOOTNOTES — what about state comptrollers (also controllers) and state treasurers?
1. State comptrollers: 19 states have them popularly elected in 9 states, appointed by the governor in 9 states, and appointed by the legislature in Tennessee.
2. State treasurers: “The position of state treasurer exists in 48 states; it is elected in 36 and appointed in 12.
3. Of the 12 states to appoint state treasurers, the governor is responsible for appointment in eight while the legislature is responsible in the other four.
NB: “In 2017, state treasurer salaries ranged from $195,972 in Tennessee to $68,500 in Colorado.”
In state auditor race, it’s Diana DiZoglio vs. Chris Dempsey and Robert DeLeo — The Boston Globe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_auditor
Auditor (state executive office)
LAST FOUR YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED THEMATICALLY:
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, 11/17/20
YOUR TURN
Please share the coolest thing you learned in the last week related to political process or campaign strategy or 2020 candidate selection or anything else for that matter.
This is your chance to make some one else’s day or change their thinking. Or to consolidate in your own memory something worth remembering that might otherwise be lost. Or to clarify or deepen your own understanding of something dear to your heart. Continuity is key to depth of thought.
