Dorrian’s protege also his successor
A new elected official will be closing the books in Columbus for the first time in nearly half a century.
Megan Kilgore took the oath of office as the city’s first female city auditor during a ceremony at City Hall on Thursday. She won’t sign the oath until Jan. 1, when her term officially begins and that of retiring Auditor Hugh J. Dorrian, who has held the office since 1969, ends.
“There’s a feeling of responsibility and service,” Kilgore said in a recent interview. “I take that very seriously.”
Public service appealed to Kilgore, 35, from an early age, said Char Kilgore, her mother. Megan Kilgore grew up in Gallipolis with posters of John Glenn and Sally Ride on her bedroom wall. She wanted to follow in Glenn’s footsteps: in space as an astronaut, and in Washington as an elected official. She was a star athlete, playing in boys baseball leagues, and now coaches women’s basketball in the Special Olympics. ____Very willing ____Somewhat willing ____Somewhat unwilling _X__Very unwilling ___ Reduce the state income tax
Char Kilgore said her daughter started showing leadership qualities in the third grade, but when she started attending conferences around the country during high school, it became clear that she was destined for public office.
“This is what she should have done,” Char Kilgore said.
When Megan Kilgore graduated from high school, she considered a move to Washington, but she decided to stay in central Ohio to be part of the inaugural class in Ohio State University’s John Glenn public-affairs school. She now lives in the Berwick neighborhood with her partner.
Kilgore started working in the auditor’s office almost by chance. She met Dorrian while working on his daughter Julia’s judicial campaign in 2003. Julia Dorrian said her father was looking for a new staff member, and she slipped her father Kilgore’s resume when she graduated from college.
Kilgore went on to spend more than 11 years in the auditor's office, eventually becoming Dorrian’s right hand as deputy. She left in 2015 to work in the private sector as a municipal adviser to local governments.
Kilgore, who teaches classes at Ohio State, likened working under Dorrian to “the hardest professor you’ve ever had in college.” Dorrian said he would give Kilgore increasingly difficult assignments, and she always completed them. While working in the auditor’s office, Kilgore earned a master of public administration degree from Northwestern University.
“Over the years, I grew more and more impressed by her,” Dorrian said.
While Kilgore was campaigning to succeed Dorrian, the question she was asked most often was what she would do differently from him, she said.
“It was a question of fear, not a question of desire,” she said.
Kilgore does have ideas of her own. She wants to start issuing additional financial reports that are easier for laypeople to understand, and to audit the office’s current systems and technology.
But the major functions of the office will remain largely the same. Kilgore is shifting the office’s organizational chart around, but she is keeping Dorrian’s employees, most of whom she worked with during her 11 years in the office.
Dorrian and Kilgore have different areas of expertise. Dorrian is a certified public accountant, whereas Kilgore specializes in public finance — in particular, debt. Kilgore plans to promote Darlene Wildes, a high-ranking accountant in the office, to deputy auditor.
Kilgore joked that she and Dorrian have many similarities too: a love for education, history, The Wall Street Journal and Bond Buyer, a trade newspaper.
“She knows what she’s doing. She’s been tested in the marketplace,” Dorrian said. “She’s a good person. She knows how to treat people. She’s demonstrated that. I always, quite frankly, look for that characteristic in people.” Blood drives are open today at:
995 E. Broad St., 12:30-5:30 p.m.
4820 Sawmill Road, 11:45 a.m.-7 p.m. 5225 Refugee Road, 1-6 p.m.
235 McNaughten Road, 1-6 p.m.
7911, Diley Road, Canal Winchester, 2-7 p.m. 4772 Cemetery Road, Hilliard, 1-6 p.m. 145 Hill Road, Pickerington, 2-7 p.m. 1327 Cameron Ave., Lewis Center, 1-7 p.m.
337 Stoneridge Lane, Gahanna, 1-7 p.m. 4327 Equity Drive, 1-7 p.m.