Coker, Wilson spar in county’s lone contest

The two candidates for Whitman County auditor, the lone contest for a county office in the Nov. 2 election, have been at the center of the financial melee that has taken place this year.

Following the June dismantling of the county’s finance department, Auditor Eunice Coker, 54, put responsibility for year-end financial statements and initial budget preparations back under the auditor’s authority. That authority had been with county commissioners for decades.

Challenger Esther Wilson, 49, meanwhile, is the only remaining member of the finance department after it was taken apart, and has subsequently been involved in efforts to reconcile errors made previously by the department.

Now the two are vying for the position that ultimately could be the key in correcting the county’s financial course.

Both are Republicans.

Wilson said repair of the county’s finances needs to involve all the county’s leaders. She said Coker has withheld information from county commissioners.

“I have a strong relationship with the county commissioners,” she said. “Right now, the two offices need to work together to help get through this financial situation.”

Coker, though, said county commissioners are a small piece in righting the ship.

“It’s not a matter of who gets along with the commissioners better, it’s who’s going to do the best for the county,” said Coker.

County commissioners, said Coker, have been responsible for dividing the county’s efforts to clean up its finances.

“We’re in a rough spot right now,” she said. “And we have a commissioner who’s new and not real savvy and he’s looking for help. And he’s fallen into a trap.”

Wilson, as the last member of the finance department, has been a key advisor to commissioners since June.

She said one of her priorities would be to repair relationships across the county.

“I think this county is dying for a lack of leadership,” she said. “As a concerned voter, I decided to run for auditor because I know I can do that job better.”

Wilson has worked in private accounting since 1977. It’s that experience, she said, that makes her a better fit to steer the county through its financial turmoil.

Through her work in the former finance department, Wilson said she has discovered several flaws in Coker’s records and that Coker has approved payment of bills for departments that are overbudget.

“Eunice routinely pays bills outside of budgets at will, despite that going against (state law),” she said. “She does not have the right to approve people spending money. That’s the commissioners’ responsibility.”

Coker said bills must be paid when they come due. Departments that spend over their budget are contacted to ensure they will be given more money to cover their needs.

She said she is pleased with the work she has done since being elected auditor eight years ago.

“Basically, the things I set out to do in this office we’ve done,” said Coker.

Among her proudest accomplishments, she said, were changes made to the county’s elections.

Under Coker, the county has switched to all-mail elections, cleaned out its voter registration database and secured a federal grant to build a new office for the elections department.

Wilson noted a number of flaws have occurred since the switch to all-mail elections. A levy proposition in Rosalia was left off the ballot. A second round of ballots had to be sent out for last spring’s Colfax School District levy after the amount was misprinted.

“Look at Oakesdale,” she said, referring to the 2008 election in which ballots destined for Oakesdale were lost en route. “Whether those ballots got to their destination or not, ultimately, it’s her responsiblity.”

Coker, though, praised her staff for quickly correcting errors that were made.

“With a staff of two and a couple of temps, I think we’ve done a hell of a fine job,” said Coker. “When questions come up, you answer them. If we’ve ever made an error or an omission, we’ve stood up and been up front about it and we’ve fixed it.”

Prior to her election as auditor in 2004, Coker worked 18 years in the county treasurer’s office.

She said relationships and trust with the heads of all county departments will be important in the financial turn-around, adding she is better suited for those challenges.

In May, Wilson was embroiled in an e-mail controversy with Commissioner Michael Largent. Wilson was accused of hacking into Largent’s email account after he sent out an anonymous survey to all county employees.

Neither were charged with any wrongdoings; there is no county policy about breaking into e-mail accounts or sending out anonymous e-mails.

Wilson said the event has been used to smear her name to voters.

“I think the thing about the computer hacking was an overblown witch hunt,” said Wilson. “There was no evidence saying I did it. It’s been used as a tool to discredit me to people I don’t know.”

Coker said the e-mail episode has led other county department heads to question Wilson’s trustworthiness.

“The thing that I have going for me is integrity - honesty,” said Coker. “I think people can trust me more because of that.”

Ballots for the Nov. 2 election will be mailed to voters by Friday.