Reif: ‘I am up to the challenge’

Newly elected controller plans to find ways to save the county money

WEST CHESTER » If you were sitting across a poker table from Margaret Reif, the woman who will today become Chester County’s first Democratic controller, you might be prone to describe her style of play as keeping her cards close to her vest.

In an interview last month ahead of her historic installation as the county’s fiscal watchdog, the first from an opposition party

and thus the lack of any formal or informal ties to the traditional Republican majority, Reif said she fully intends to live up to the promise she made to voters who propelled her to office in November.

But she declined to state specifically what steps she might take to investigate or root out any fiscal irregularities she believes are present in county government.

“We need a big change in the county,” Reif said in the 30-minute telephone interview. “There are finally checks and balances in the county, and I take that very seriously. I feel it is important to prove everyone right in the trust they placed in us, in giving us their confidence.”

Reif said, however, that she had no specific agenda as to what paths she might pursue to display that “check” on the way that county government is run fiscally, only a broad belief that the power of the controller’s office can be used more effectively than it has in the past.

“I have an idea in my head of what I will be trying to figure out,” she said. “It is difficult to really know all the specifics at this point, based on what information is out there, before I jump to any conclusions. But I am not going to get into details yet. It would be foolish for me to say I know all of what needs to be done.”

Reif, 49, of Upper Uwchlan, is one of four women who were elected as Democrats to as many county row office positions. They were all individually the fist members of their party to be elected to those posts, and will make history when they take office.

Elected in November were Reif, as controller; Yolanda Van Der Krol, of Tredyffrin, as clerk of courts; Dr. Christina VandePol of West Chester, as coroner; and Patricia Maisano, of Kennett, as treasurer.

Their official oaths of office will be administered today in accordance with state law. A formal swearing-in ceremony for them and other county elected officials will be held at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 3, in the Sykes Student Union ballroom at West Chester University.

Although each of the offices in the Democrats’ sweep hold significance in their own way in the halls of county government, none is more important than the office of controller. By state law, the controller has the authority to set accounting standards, audit the county’s fiscal records, aid in overseeing its pension, and to investigate “fraud, flagrant abuse of public office or any act or neglect of any officer or other county employee,” according to state law.

In its mission statement, the current controller’s office in West Chester promises to provide those services to Chester County government “and the public so they can be assured taxpayer funds are administered prudently and lawfully.

Since her election, Reif said that she had been meeting with administrative staff in the controller’s office, outgoing Controller Norman MacQueen, the county commissioners, and others, including Chief Operating Officer Mark Rupsis and members of the county Finance Department to ensure a smooth transition.

“Everyone has been very helpful,” she said. “It has been an easy transition.” She intends to attend an orientation session for new county controllers given in February in State College. “That will give me a helpful overview of things I should expect,” she said.

Up until now, her “questions have been focused on the auditing process, and the pension,” she said. “Being the county fiscal watchdog, audits are going to be something of a primary concern for me,” she said. “I want to make sure I get up to speed as quickly as possible on that.”

Reif assured those in the controller’s office, however, that wholesale changes were not anticipated. “I tried to make sure everyone in the office knows that it would not be in the best interest of the taxpayers at all ”to clean house. They’ve got a knowledge base I am going to need, so I am not planning any changes immediately at all.

“It is important for me to get in there and learn and get myself up to speed as fast as possible, though,” she said. “So I can find ways to save money. But I am up to the challenge to do right by the people who elected me.”

Margaret Reif