League of Women Voters of Ohio Education Fund
	Ohio State Government November 2, 2010 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Auditor of State; State of Ohio

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Ohio and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Sunshine law, Priorities, Fiscal challenges, Redistricting Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. What would you do to enforce Ohio's sunshine laws and open-records policy, given increased difficulty in accessing public records? Answer from David Pepper: Transparency has been a hallmark of my public service. I have pushed to make meetings, public work and spending as accessible as possible. And I was recognized by a local newspaper as the most transparent public official. The Auditor`s office is uniquely situated to champion transparency, including strict adherence to sunshine and open-records laws. The most important step is to ensure that all officials know the details of both sunshine and public records laws, and why strict adherence to them is so important for open government. At the same time, the Auditor must inform citizens of their rights to open government, and their remedies if those rules are not followed. More broadly, the Auditor`s role as a financial watchdog means that he/she should champion transparency in other ways. I will provide a user-friendly, open window into spending, results/performance, and other government work at all levels. Answer from L. Michael Howard: The Auditor of State used to have a unit devoted solely to educating officials about open records requirements, and that function will be continued. Officials should error on the side of transparency and full disclosure with the public`s records. The Auditor also can and should monitor and comment on proposed laws and regulations pertaining to open records. The only ―enforcement‖ the Auditor is reporting upon instances of violations of open records laws noted in audits. Answer from David A. Yost: I would like to make public records easier to access online. Also, as State Auditor, I plan to root out corruption where it starts, before government officials have to worry about the public records 2. What are your priorities for the auditor's office? Answer from David A. Yost: As I have done as county prosecutor, I will continue to root out corruption and waste. Clean government is my first priority. I will also comb over every part of the Ohio government looking for ways to save money and improve efficiency. consolidation is important. I`ve also called for performance audits of all state agencies. We are facing a projected $8 million deficit in our next budget, and I believe the office of Auditor of State should have additional authority to review state agencies for efficiency. Answer from L. Michael Howard: The highest priority is maintaining and expanding professionalism. The Auditor of State is one of the largest professional auditing groups in the State of Ohio; the taxpayers deserve to have a professional auditor. I would strengthen and expand to the extent possible the fraud audit function, and the advisory groups that actually help local and state governmental agencies, the Local Government Services group and the Performance Audit group. I would attempt to legally change the priority of the Auditor`s office from routine financial and compliance audits, which would be more privatized, to performance audits emphasizing investigating governmental efficiency and results, including using comparative date from the private sector. I will be a full-time Auditor for the entire team, not running for some other office or putting political advisors on the State`s payroll. Answer from David Pepper: The Auditor can play a key role in ensuring that Ohio competes in this tough 21st century economy. To compete, we need more effective, more efficient, less wasteful government. And we need to prioritize investments that attract and retain companies, jobs and a strong workforce. As Auditor, my priorities will be to serve these ends by: Eliminating waste, fraud and misuse of taxpayer dollars. Working with state and local governments to reduce costs Making Ohio competitive for job growth by improving efficiency and reforming government This is exactly the record I have built. I have worked tirelessly to make government efficient, keep costs down, promote ethics and prioritize investments in long-term growth. As a result, we reduced County spending by $60 million, to the lowest level in more than a decade, while making investments to spur economic growth and create jobs. 3. How would you help local and state government agencies deal with the fiscal challenges they are facing today? Answer from David A. Yost: I will ask the Ohio General Assembly to pass legislation that grants the Auditor of State explicit, statutory authority to initiate performance audits of all state agencies. We are facing a projected $8 million deficit in our next budget, and I believe the office of Auditor of State should have additional authority to review state agencies for efficiency. Answer from David Pepper: Ohio`s Auditor is well-positioned to help government at all levels save tax dollars through efficiencies and reforms. 13 I will take the approach we see from other State Auditors in the country: rooting out waste, fraud and abuse while championing performance audits, best practices reviews, cost-saving reforms such as shared services/consolidation, targeting efficiencies and benchmarking performance. In my years in public service, this is the work I've done. I have balanced budgets and made the tough choices that Mayors, Commissioners and Councilmembers are facing today. In Hamilton County, I pushed for ways to make government more efficient, share and consolidate services, keep costs down, and prioritize investments in long-term growth. As a result, we have reduced spending in the County by $60 million, to the lowest level in more than a decade, while making investments to spur economic growth and create jobs. Answer from L. Michael Howard: The Auditor of State is in the unique position of observing thousands of units of government, some operating efficiently and effectively, and some not. From that, ―best practices‖ can be gleaned and disseminated widely to program and other managers. The Auditor also has a performance audit function that can be used to help specific entities develop more efficient ways of delivering services. However, it needs to expand its ―peer‖ group comparisons to include private sector entities. The Auditor`s Local Government Services group also should be expanded to render more effective and targeted management advice. Of course, routine audit results also may be used to show governments how they are using their resources currently and how they might be able to use them more efficiently. 4. As a member of the Apportionment Board, what approaches would you support to ensure an open, fair and transparent process for redistricting? Answer from L. Michael Howard: After every decennial federal census, the Ohio Apportionment Board meets to realign Ohio General Assembly Districts. Whichever political party of the state`s duopoly parties controls this board always gerrymanders these districts to arrogate to itself as much political power as possible, regardless of whether that benefits Ohio`s citizens or not. That`s why the districts are so misshapen and fail to meet the criteria I feel are necessary in creating such districts. I will vote for no apportionment plan that fails to meet the ―3COM‖ criteria:  COMpact  COMpetitive  COMmonality of interests Compact means no more skinny little misshapen districts drawn to favor one duopoly party or the other. Competitive means that any candidate from any party, including Libertarians and other independents, have a roughly equal chance of representing citizens. Commonality of interest means that persons who share common values and interests are in the same district. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. Word limits apply for each question. Direct references to opponents are not permitted. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.