STEVE GLAZER: I’M INDEPENDENT, WILL STAND UP TO POWERFUL INTERESTS
Q:What is your background that makes you the best candidate for this job?
I have a strong record
of independence and standing up to powerful interests. I believe transparency, integrity and honesty are essential elements of public service.
I have never accepted gifts or travel from special interests.
I authored some of the toughest conflict-of-interest and public disclosure laws in the nation.
I know how to fight entrenched interests and win.
• I wrote legislation closing the assault weapon loophole.
• My bill stopped tobacco companies from marketing products to children.
• I took on powerful banking interests to enact the nation’s first truth-inlending law for small business.
• When the Bay Area’s transit system lurched out of control, I successfully fought to create an inspector general to hold the system accountable.
I have more than 20 years experience auditing public agencies.
I sat on the Audit Committee as mayor of my home
A:town, Orinda, and again as a trustee of the 23-campus California State University system. In the state Senate, I am a member of the Legislative Audit Committee.
As controller, I will ensure corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes and will protect pension funds that millions rely upon for retirement security.
I am a lifelong environmentalist who has led many campaigns to protect natural lands and habitat. The controller sits on the State Lands Commission and, as a member of that body, environmental preservation will be at the forefront of every decision I make.
I pledge to you to be an independent citizen watchdog. Visit senatorglazer.com for more information.
Q:
Assess outgoing
Controller Betty Yee. What did she do well or not do well?
A:
It was wrong, in my
judgment, for the controller to advocate for and assist a contractor attempting to obtain a “no-bid” state contract, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. I’ve read the news reports very carefully and fully support an independent investigation
to make all of the facts public. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
If elected controller, I will work hard to earn the public’s trust and restore the integrity of the office.
The controller must be the guardian of the taxpayers and ensure funds are disbursed based on merit, not insider relations.
In addition, I have long felt that state controllers, going back many years, have not effectively used the audit powers of the office to promote transparency and, with it, accountability, for the billions of dollars California spends each year.
We spend hundreds of billions of dollars and many results are clearly subpar.
Some examples: We’ve spent billions to help the homeless — and the situation keeps getting worse. The largest portion of the state budget goes to education. We have excellent schools, but we also have more than 500 schools that are failing. We’ve spent billions more on drought relief and wildfire prevention.
Even our most laudable goals are meaningless if the programs meant to achieve them are failing.
California needs an activist controller who is not afraid to pull the curtain back on how our taxes are spent so the Legislature and the public can honestly assess effectiveness, eliminate waste, curb fraud and address any shortcomings.
Q:
California’s computer
payroll system is outdated, and prior controllers have been unable to fix the problem. What, if anything, would you do?
A:
Just as the controller’s job is to require honesty and transparency from the state and its agencies, the public has every right to expect the Controller’s Office to pass the same test.
I would start with an independent appraisal followed by full and complete public disclosure of all of the shortcomings of the state’s payroll system.
Next, I would set out a clear path for improving the system with metrics to measure progress and clear deadlines for meeting milestones and completion.
The entire process would, of course, be public and fully transparent.
My office would issue regular progress reports, and we would invite the Legislature, the press and the public to see how the rebuilding of the state’s payroll system is progressing.
In this way, as controller, I would expect to be held responsible and accountable for my actions to address this issue as well as set a standard of conduct for other state agencies to follow.
Q:
What are three areas
in the office where you would make major changes?
A:
As the state’s chief
financial officer, the controller is responsible for the disbursement of all state funds.
Every expenditure must be properly documented and fully comply with state and federal law.
Before delineating any improvements I would bring to the office, I want to restate the critical nature of this core function of the office.
I would expand the auditing function of the office to go beyond compliance audits by increasing the use of performance audits that focus on effectiveness of spending, not just following the trail of receipts and invoices.
The controller sits on the state’s pension boards and millions of current and former state employees rely on those pensions for security in their retirement. I would encourage greater scrutiny on the “rate of return” assumptions these boards have historically made, which have left the state billions short of meeting retirement obligations.
I would expand disclosures of state spending on salaries to include all public agencies. I will work to close the loophole that allows most school districts to avoid this disclosure.
We have seen examples of outrageous salary payments to city managers and school superintendents that are covered up from public view — salaries of $500,000 and more when teachers and firefighters are struggling to make ends meet.
Transparency, or sunlight as I said earlier, is the best disinfectant.
The controller can and should shine a bright light into every corner of state government.