What’s case for changing auditor duties?

By The Gazette Editorial Board

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Hopes that the Linn County Board of Supervisors and county Auditor Joel Miller would bury the hatchet, postelection, have been dented in recent days.

A judge ruled for the supervisors in a long legal battle over the auditor's duties. Voters returned Miller to office by a landslide. It seemed like a good time to open a new chapter of cooperation and close the book on past confrontations.

Then came news that some supervisors are considering taking county facilities management duties away from Miller's office. It's possible that those duties would be handed to a new office led by current county construction manager Garth Fagerbakke - whom Miller defeated in the Nov. 6 election.

Backers of the move contend they're simply looking for the best and most cost-effective way to manage county facilities. Miller insists that it's retribution.

“It's very, very poor timing at the very least by the Board of Supervisors,” said Supervisor Brent Oleson, R-Marion.

We agree. A central component of Fagerbakke's campaign was his argument that Miller has mismanaged county facilities and that he could do a better job. Fagerbakke does have facilities experience, and has done a good job overseeing post-flood construction projects.

But voters chose Miller by a percentage margin of 63-37. Handing a chunk of the auditor's duties to Fagerbakke after that lopsided election would seem to fly in the face of the clear verdict rendered by the voters. That verdict would seem to trump the personal animosity and hard feelings that remain from clashes between Miller and other elected officials.

Supervisors certainly can and should consider and discuss any and all ideas for changing the way county operations are managed. The board is just now embarking on a budget process that will likely spark many of those discussions in the coming months.

But the facilities proposal is no ordinary budget issue. Backers of taking duties away from a countywide elected official who just won a resounding re-election victory had better have compelling arguments for why a change, now, is needed. What is the strong case made that county residents would benefit from such a reorganization.

Otherwise, Miller's duties should remain unchanged. And our elected county leaders should move on to the many important issues where cooperation is possible.

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