Better Government Through independent auditing BY ANN-MARIE HOGAN EDITOR'S NOTE: The following letter was sent Aug. 12 to the Eugene mayor and council members in response to recent local media reports on the need for an independent auditor. EW was given permission to reprint it as a guest commentary. We are aware that the city of Eugene does not have an independent performance auditor. The National Association of Local Government Auditors (www.NALGA.org)believes the independent performance audit function plays a key role in effective governance and public accountability. Taxpayers and elected representatives want assurance that scarce tax dollars are protected by strong management controls and practices. An independent performance audit function can provide such assurance to you and your constituents through independent reviews and evaluations. The value of an independent performance audit function is in providing objective, accurate, and meaningful information about operations so you can make informed decisions to better serve your citizens. Members of our organization who direct successful local government audit shops in the state of Oregon were in contact with the council two years ago when the Charter Review Committee proposed establishment of such a function. More recently, it appears that concerns expressed by staff in your city centered around the question of independence, as well as the issue of cost effectiveness. Government Auditing Standards and NALGA Model Legislation recommend that audit organizations be organizationally located outside the staff or line management function of the organization. Audit organizations should report the results of their audits to the public and be accountable to either the legislative body of the organization or directly to the public through an elected auditor office. Independence is important because auditors should be sufficiently removed from political pressures to ensure that they can conduct audits objectively and can report findings, opinions, and conclusions objectively without fear of repercussion. For this reason, federal performance auditors (GAO) report to Congress, rather than the executive branch. Independent performance auditors can help: Strengthen internal controls Deter fraud Identify waste and abuse Provide professional resources In many cases, audit work leads to new revenue, cost recovery, and economic impact well beyond the audit department's annual budget. Many independent performance audit departments pay for themselves many times over. An independent performance audit function for the city of Eugene would be a long-term financial resource for the city. We have enclosed the brochure, Guidelines and Model Authorizing Legislation for Local Government Audit Functions. Our organization would be happy to answer any questions you have about establishing an independent performance audit function. Ann-Marie Hogan chairs the Advocacy Committee of NALGA and is the elected city auditor in Berkeley, Calif.. She says she has "worked productively with several city managers to improve the efficiency of operations, identify new revenue, and increase accountability to the public."     Staying on Message Hanging on to our tongues. BY SALLY SHEKLOW Our Constitution is designed to protect people, not hurt them. Constitutional Amendment 36 hurts real Oregonians by putting unequal treatment for gays and lesbians in our Constitution. It would deny many families health care, inheritance rights and the ability to make life-saving medical decisions. We may disagree about social issues such as marriage, but those disagreements do not belong in our Constitution. — Official No on Constitutional Amendment 36 Campaign Message Rebekah stands in front of the small university classroom. She welcomes us No on Constitutional Amendment 36 Speakers Bureau volunteers to our training session. "Our polls show this is winnable if we stay on message," she tells us. While she explains the strategy to challenge Oregon's latest anti-gay attack, her fingers tug the hem of her black knit shirt over the waistband of her slacks. Like Sisyphus and his rock, she keeps at it and it keeps rolling away. "If we get our message out early, we can win." Rebekah pushes her long, dye-streaked bangs aside, another Sisyphean effort. Rebekah has a tough job. Not only does her shirt ride up and her hair fall forward, but as campaign Communications Director, this savvy young politico must convert us forty-some volunteers into on-message speakers in one short session. Easily 20 years my junior, Rebekah reviews the Speakers Handbook with our group — mostly old war horses like me who have fought against (and won, by the way) Oregon's last three anti-gay initiatives. She explains how important it is to use the exact language specially crafted to reach undecided voters. We learn to say unequal treatment, not discrimination. We learn to call proponents of Constitutional Amendment 36 our opposition. Am I the only one boiling inside, thinking up more accurate terms for the folks pushing a same-sex marriage ban? Rebekah stays on message, modeling how to bring the discussion back to moving undecided voters to vote no. "Oregonians don't like amending our Constitution," she emphasizes. This is hard. I'm eager to toss Amendment 36 onto the scrapheap of Ballot Measures 9, 13, and 9 again — the anti-gay initiatives Oregonians defeated in '92, '94 and 2000. But inside me simmers a tirade affirming gay, lesbian, bi, trans, and queer people's right to equality under the law — we have families we want to protect, too. I force myself to focus and memorize the official message. "Now turn your desks around and practice in small groups." Rebekah tugs her shirt down and pushes her bangs aside for the hundredth time. This up-to-now attentive group of queers and our allies breaks into chatter while we scoot our wooden desks across the shiny linoleum floor. We visit and laugh a little in this so-far humorless session. Everyone needs to let off steam. The training material is a lot to absorb. We must talk about health care, inheritance rights, and life-saving medical decisions. We aren't supposed to say it's about denying fairness, democracy, and justice for all, even though is. We can't mention loving each other and wanting to marry our lifemates, even though we do. This is politics — bite the bullet and say what needs to be said to win. There's no room for anything along the lines of a Dick Cheney f-word comment, which in the case of people trouncing our very humanity seems appropriate. We sit in our desks and practice saying the message. Nobody mentions it, but everyone here knows Measure 36 is mean-spirited, stupid, and totally discriminatory, that it's based on fear and perpetuates big fat lies. I ache to protest the queer-hating narrow-mindedness of the one-man/one-woman frothing-mouthed hate-mongers, er, I mean our opposition. When do I get to call our opposition bigoted right-wing doo-doo heads? I keep that thought to myself and stay on message. This crowd would normally be much more cheery, jovial, and — you know — gay. Unfortunately, not much is funny about putting unequal treatment into our Constitution. The local No on Constitutional Amendment 36 campaign office is at 1615 Oak St. in Eugene. To learn more, volunteer, or make a contribution, drop by or call 344-2811. For more info see www.noon36.com,www.basicrights.org, and www.mytribeeugene.bravehost.comWriter and equality advocate Sally Sheklow teaches writing at LCC Downtown Center.
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