LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Jordan B. Maley

To The Editor,

A Times-Journal 4-4-24 letter indicated the audits on file in the Gilliam County Clerk’s office had “no adverse findings.” This tells me that Gilliam County needs to find another auditor. The entire point of an audit is to identify weaknesses in an organization’s financial management system. An audit should always contain suggestions for strengthening the system of check and balances to help an agency manage financial risk. Otherwise, what is the point of paying an auditor to give you a perfect score, if they don’t tell you where to improve your system?

Here is just one example of what the Gilliam County auditors should have pointed out to the County Court. For the past eight years, the County Treasurer is the only person in county administration to receive a copy of the Oregon State Treasury statement for the Local Government Investment Pool (LGIP) account ($34+ million). More than five years ago, the Gilliam County SWCD auditors red-flagged this practice as a vulnerability in the District’s financial management system. The board revised our financial management policy to include three SWCD board members receiving a monthly statement of our LGIP account, as well as our financial manager having online access to it. Evidently similar policies are in place for other small districts in Gilliam County.

I visited with Commissioner Watkins about this issue, and Leah indicated she is working to correct what the auditors missed, getting the County Court copies of the Oregon State Treasury monthly statement. Leah also stated the County Court had not been given copies of other investment account statements until about a year ago. Isn’t it the County Treasurer’s job to keep the County Court informed about status of the county’s millions of dollars in financial resources?

The Gilliam County Court’s decision to hire a financial officer is justified by the LGIP example alone, and Rachel Boyer was on solid ground with the issues she raised. We now know that audits are not necessarily a reliable indicator of how effective the County’s financial risk management policies are. The County Court should receive copies of all investment pool account statements and hold other elected officials accountable for county finances. We should be supporting their efforts on our behalf, instead of subjecting them to a recall based on questionable motives.

It's time the other Gilliam County elected officials who are offering not-too-subtle support for the recall backers, to get over their turf war against the County Court. Better financial oversight and courthouse management is everyone’s business and in everyone’s best interest!

Respectfully submitted,

Jordan B. Maley, Condon