Auditor, commissioners discuss progress

A workshop meeting with the Board of County Commissioners, Auditor Eunice Coker, Finance Director Sharron Cunningham and County Administrator Gary Petrovich is wrapped up in the commissioner's chambers Tuesday morning.

County Commissioner Michael Largent is ready to see the county have a clean audit.

“I'm getting weary in my 10th year as a commissioner,” Largent said Tuesday at a meeting to address the progress toward meeting objectives set by the state auditor's office and the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA).

Whitman County has not passed an audit in more than a decade, and the county has only been able to produce accurate financial records for the state auditor's office in five of the last 11 years.

“It's being taken care of, handled,” Whitman County Auditor Eunice Coker told the Board of County Commissioners Tuesday. “Even prior to our new finance system, this big, entire thing has been an issue. We had a year or two with Cinnamon (Brown), and things started going south and she's no longer here.”

The commissioners told the auditor they want to be able to stay in better communication as progress is made on cleaning up the issues.

“It is apparent that we need to keep everyone informed,” said Largent. “I think there are some good stories to tell, and we're not telling them. Clearly, the public is interested in what we're doing organizationally.”

Largent said he sent an email to Coker and Finance Director Sharron Cunningham on Dec. 6, 2016, following up on a meeting they held the day before.

“If you will recall, we talked about the need to coordinate efforts across departments (treasurer and auditor specifically) and make progress reports of these efforts publicly visible on an ongoing basis,” he wrote. “We didn't come to any conclusions on the specific mechanism, but I suggested BoCC meeting agendas (with the press in attendance) could be utilized to bring accountability. I think we could come up with some agreed upon ground rules so the status update isn't a question and answer period.”

Largent never received a reply. He sent a similar email on Jan. 4, 2017, and he again did not receive a reply.

“If it wasn't answered, it was misunderstood,” Cunningham said Tuesday.

“I thought that meeting Dec. 5 we had was the beginning of something good,” said Largent. “And then I never heard back.”

“Can we quit beating a dead horse?” Coker replied.

The commissioners have given the auditor a slot on their agenda for their first meeting of every month. Last month, they invited her to attend their meeting Tuesday, Feb. 21, to update them on the status of the progress toward the state audit and GFOA goals. She declined the invitation, but they left her on the agenda with the hope she would change her mind.

“I'm sorry that I didn't email back,” Coker said. “This isn't helpful. It isn't helpful to be telling another elected that you're on the agenda and we hope you show up. That was disrespectful.”

Coker then told the commissioners she was at the meeting this week “with the good stuff.”

Largent reiterated that he hoped to move forward with a public process toward communicating progress.

“I would suggest that the outcome of this meeting, what I was hoping to achieve, is that there is a process that is instituted that is regular, that is public and that is written,” he said. “At a higher level, we're going to begin a process where people are made aware of the good things that are going on.”

When Coker responded that those processes are already being communicated, Commissioner Art Swannack disagreed.

“With respect, Eunice, we haven't heard diddly squat,” he said.

Swannack said the importance of keeping the commissioners and the public informed of the progress is to be able to help in budget planning processes and for accountability.

“It's important that we have accurate accounting of what's going on,” he said. “We have to decide how much we're willing to fund a department.”

Largent said the commissioners need more information on the accounting process, which is required by law to be on a month-by-month basis.

“That is very doable, a once-a-month report,” said Coker. “But do we want to follow that word for word? I can't believe I just said that about the law.”

Cunningham said one thing that is important to keep in mind as the county moves to a point of being able to produce accurate, monthly reports is that it will be a long process as corrections are made and controls put in place.

“We're looking at 2016 and 2017 in tandem,” she said. “When we see issues in 2016, we correct them in 2017 as well. Sixteen is going to make '17 better. We're getting there, but it's a process to go through.”

County Administrator Gary Petrovich said he believes Cunningham and Assistant Finance Administrator Deborah Parent are well-suited to address the issues and move the county into a clean audit status.

“I think you've got the great staff in the form of Sharron and Deborah,” he said. Everyone agreed.

Largent also said it is important to look at the issues and recognize that they are not just coming from one place.

“It is my feeling that the issues that confront us are not specific to any department, but effect us organizationally,” he said. “We're independent, but we're interdependent, too. We need to do a better job of communicating. We need good news, and there's good news to tell.”

Largent added that having an open, transparent process will show responsibility to the citizens of Whitman County.

“That is the one thing I want to achieve before I quit being a commissioner,” he said. “It won't be a kudos for me, it will be a kudos for us. Let's report, talk, celebrate and struggle together. Let's leave egos and personalities outside the door and look at a common goal.”

Coker did share some things that have been happening in regard to progress toward the recommendations and goals. She said Cunningham has put together a working spreadsheet with the issues, the details of them and the process of correcting them.

“We're at the point right now where we've got the right people in the right position,” she said. “I can't say that for the past couple of years. Weeds is where we live, and the weeds is where it has to get cleaned up.”

Coker also said the accounting departments have been getting together once a month for training.

“We're close, maybe in year, well I'm not going to put a date on it,” said Coker. “When we get to the point where the input is correct, the report will be correct. We need to trust, and we need to train.”

The commissioners at the end of the meeting asked Coker and Cunningham to come for regular, monthly meetings to update them on the status of the progress. Coker said she would prefer if they would continue to meet in workshop meetings, but the commissioners said they would prefer a more public format with the meeting on the Board of County Commissioner's agenda.

“The concept is that the public gets to hear,” said Swannack.

Commissioner Dean Kinzer, who remained silent for the majority of the meeting, said he would like to see the county able to move faster on the issues.