O’Neill “worried” about Coker’s inaction on finance director hire

Whitman County Commissioner Pat O’Neill is concerned that Auditor Eunice Coker has not hired a finance director for her office almost two months after she was given the authority to do so.

“I’m very worried at this point,” O’Neill said to his fellow commissioners during Monday’s regular meeting. “We can’t keep waiting around.”

Coker Tuesday said she has other projects she has prioritized above the hiring.

“They have no idea what I’m doing up here, other than what someone may be advising them of what I’m doing because they’re monitoring my computer, ” Coker said.

State law makes the auditor responsible for the county’s annual financial statements and budget preparation. Those duties had been done by employees under commissioners in Whitman County since the mid-1980s.

Coker revoked their authority to do so in June.

Coker contends “meddling” by commissioners in financial affairs they put at the top of their to-do list led to the collapse of the finance department.

“This is the same situation that the old finance department was put in on a constant basis,” said Coker. “Put everything else on the back burner because something has bubbled to the top of their radar.”

In restructuring the duties of the former finance department, which was dismantled after the firing and resignation of its top two officials in June, commissioners moved the annual statement and budget preparation back under Coker’s office. On July 19, they also gave her the authority to hire a new employee to perform those tasks.

A federally-mandated audit of the county’s books is due Sept. 30.

State workers performing the audit for the federal government did not receive audit information until late July. That late submittal has pushed back their process. The Sept. 30 deadline is now likely out of reach.

Debbie Pennick, the state’s manager of the county audit, told commissioners last week the feds have tightened their guidelines on audit reports.

Entities that have audits finished after federal deadlines may lose future federal funding.

O’Neill worried that because Coker has not yet hired an employee to prepare next year’s statement, the county would not be able to hit next year’s audit deadline.

“If Eunice doesn’t get somebody on board ASAP, then how is this going to effect the 2010 audit that’s due next September 30 – 2011?” asked O’Neill. “Do we lose all our federal money next year because nothing’s been done upstairs?”

Coker said her employee will be hired with enough time to prepare a financial statement. Commissioners, she said, are under tighter time constraints because their employee needs to oversee annual budget negotiations this fall.

“They need to worry about getting their own position hired,” she said.

She said she is busy with preparing 2010 budget amendments, the preliminary 2011 budget, working up a plan to draw new district boundaries for elections, working with state auditors on the 2009 audit and covering what she called a short-staffed office.

O’Neill Monday complained Coker had not given commissioners a status report.

“I wasn’t aware they were trying to get ahold of me,” said Coker.

Coker said she had received one piece of communication from commissioners since the July hiring authorization – a Sept. 7 e-mail from Commissioner Michael Largent.