State Auditor Johnson is getting job done
THE NEW Mexico state auditor is considered a “down ballot” race, meaning most people don’t think it’s important. Think again New Mexicans. Having followed the current State Auditor, Wayne Johnson, I’m voting to keep him in office.
The state auditor is an extremely important position that most of us know little about. The wrong person in this office can ignore misuse and mismanagement of state funds. You could almost consider the auditor’s job non-partisan. He doesn’t make or enforce policy. He audits state agencies for compliance with law and policy and reports his findings. The state auditor is an independent position. He does not answer to the governor. He does not answer to the Legislature. He answers to you, the voter. The state auditor’s job is to be the sheriff of the people’s money — to keep elected people and appointed bureaucrats from stealing and cheating the system. The state auditor’s race is too important to take casually.
For eight years, Wayne Johnson was my Bernalillo County commissioner. I have known him to work every day as a public servant striving to do the right thing. Rarely have we had such a hard-working, responsive and straightforward commissioner. As the current state auditor, he has been protecting senior’s meals, children at charter schools and even trying to help solve the crime problem in Bernalillo County with an unprecedented audit of the criminal justice system.
Can you imagine what could happen to the state’s billion dollar surplus with no independent voice to watch over a Democratic Legislature, governor, and all the appointed bureaucrats? Had an independent auditor been overseeing the Richardson administration, things might have been different and New Mexico wouldn’t be faced with trying to recover misspent millions in investment funds. There hasn’t been a Republican auditor elected to the position since 1968 – that is 50 years of the dominant party’s perspective and biases. Fifty years of the fox guarding the hen house.
Wake up New Mexicans. Pay attention. Elect a fair, honest and independent state auditor to protect your money and our state. I’m voting for Wayne Johnson for state auditor. I hope you will too. KATHY MCCOY Retired State Representative HD22 Cedar Crest