Beneath Legal Fight, a Legitimate Issue

It's easy to get lost in the weeds when it comes to legal disputes. But let's grab a machete and give it a try.

Maybe you've heard about the fight between Linn County Auditor Joel Miller and the County Board of Supervisors. It's a complicated caldron of legal arguments and disputed facts, spiced with bad blood.

It's no state secret that Miller and some of the supervisors, in particular his fellow Democrats, don't play well together. They've clashed in the boardroom and at the ballot box. Now it's spilled into the courts.

Miller fired an employee and then wanted to hire an employee, first a deputy, then a manager, but the board refused to allow it. He filed a lawsuit disputing the legality of that decision, asserting his right to run his own department. To the average taxpayer, it looks like a big mess. Our editorial board invited Miller and Supervisor Linda Langston to explain their sides.

And, it turns out, if you peel away layers of legalities and personalities, there is a public policy issue at stake.

Miller thinks someone in his office should conduct random quality control checks on the county's purchases of goods and services. If the county buys 10 computers, for instance, he thinks it would be a good idea to verify that 10 computers are received and on the job. “No one verifies receipt of goods and services,” he says. Miller insists, in a $120 million enterprise, someone should.

Langston says if such a position is needed, it should report to the board, not the auditor. But she doesn't think it's needed. She chuckled at the notion of paying someone to “count spark plugs” or printer paper. She says good purchasing processes are already are in place, and the county is audited every year by an outside firm.

I'm not questioning Langston's commitment to good practices, or the honesty of county employees. But I'm with Miller on this one.

Miller is calling for more oversight and transparency at a time when the public's trust in government is at an all-time low. With that reality in mind, the supervisors should be working with him to get this done instead of throwing up barriers. Supervisor Brent Oleson is the only member who has recognized the merits in Miller's proposal.

Time and time again, in government, and in private business, purchasing has been a weak link in oversight and a soft target for criminality. We've all seen the headlines, here and elsewhere, about missing funds and pilfered purchases.

Unfortunately, unless both sides can cut through their endless turf battles, nothing will get done. I'll happily lend them my machete.

Comments: (319) 398-8452; todd.dorman@sourcemedia.net