Pat Anderson, the endorsed Republican candidate for state auditor, is feeling a bit of déjà vu with her campaign – she's done it twice before, with one success. She served as Minnesota's auditor from 2003 to 2007, when Democrat Rebecca Otto took over after being elected.
“I have a long list of things I accomplished as state auditor, and I'd like the privilege of serving the citizens of Minnesota to do this again and return thoughtful, common-sense management to the office,” she said during a recent visit to the Times, part of her tour of Greater Minnesota. Although she has no competition for the Republican nomination, she wanted to kick off her campaign, with the theme “...because every penny counts,” early so voters can get to know her and what she stands for.
Anderson stressed the need for major government reform and that everyone who is elected, from governor down to every legislator, will need to make some big changes. How that will look depends on who is elected, she added.
She cited three basic reform ideas:
• “Government isn't working,” she said. “Minnesota's government is going to require a top to bottom redesign, that the auditor plays a crucial role in as a constitutional officer.”
• “Relations with local governments must be improved,” said Anderson. “The auditor should work hand in hand with local government to fend off looming problems and develop solutions to improve operations, including Local Government Aid reform, reducing state mandates and school district finance equitability.”
• “Being a vigilant watchdog is a crucial role of the auditor,” she said. “The auditor has a duty to every citizen to protect the resources rightfully belonging ot their local government from fraud and theft. The last four years have seen a dramatic increase in fraud and theft of taxpayer funds.”
Anderson said it is important to put the looming state deficit into perspective as to just how large it is – projected to be $5-7 billion next year.
“This is bigger than anything we've ever experienced before,” she said. “We're broke. In the past, we've shifted funds and raided the tobacco endowment, but there are no pockets of money anywhere and nowhere left to shift.”
An Association of Minnesota Counties proprosal has “some good stuff,” she said. “It essentially says give us (counties) our freedom from mandates and we’ll take over some services that are duplicated at the state. There would be more regional service centers. It really is a major change in the function of counties.”
As a former mayor, Anderson also knows the importance of LGA to cities and how lack of it can be detrimental to the services they can provide.
“We need to lay out a formula based what it was created for 40 years ago, to make sure cities can provide essential services no matter what their tax base is, not to balance the budget or let politics come into play,” she said. “Core essential services are, by the way, state constitutional responsibilities: public safety, roads and bridges, and schools are in the constitution. If the state is going to say local governments are responsible for these, it needs to make sure they’re funded. LGA has just been a disaster.”
Acknowledging that many voters are not familiar with what the auditor's duties entail, Anderson said she hopes they'll take the time to learn more about the office and how it impacts the lives of every Minnesotan. She plans to make the rounds around the state again before the Nov. 2 General Election to both inform the public on this as well as push for her election.
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Pat Anderson, the endorsed Republican candidate for state auditor, is feeling a bit of déjà vu with her campaign – she's done it twice before, with one success. She served as Minnesota's auditor from 2003 to 2007, when Democrat Rebecca Otto took over after being elected.
“I have a long list of things I accomplished as state auditor, and I'd like the privilege of serving the citizens of Minnesota to do this again and return thoughtful, common-sense management to the office,” she said during a recent visit to the Times, part of her tour of Greater Minnesota. Although she has no competition for the Republican nomination, she wanted to kick off her campaign, with the theme “...because every penny counts,” early so voters can get to know her and what she stands for.
Anderson stressed the need for major government reform and that everyone who is elected, from governor down to every legislator, will need to make some big changes. How that will look depends on who is elected, she added.
She cited three basic reform ideas:
• “Government isn't working,” she said. “Minnesota's government is going to require a top to bottom redesign, that the auditor plays a crucial role in as a constitutional officer.”
• “Relations with local governments must be improved,” said Anderson. “The auditor should work hand in hand with local government to fend off looming problems and develop solutions to improve operations, including Local Government Aid reform, reducing state mandates and school district finance equitability.”
• “Being a vigilant watchdog is a crucial role of the auditor,” she said. “The auditor has a duty to every citizen to protect the resources rightfully belonging ot their local government from fraud and theft. The last four years have seen a dramatic increase in fraud and theft of taxpayer funds.”
Anderson said it is important to put the looming state deficit into perspective as to just how large it is – projected to be $5-7 billion next year.
“This is bigger than anything we've ever experienced before,” she said. “We're broke. In the past, we've shifted funds and raided the tobacco endowment, but there are no pockets of money anywhere and nowhere left to shift.”
An Association of Minnesota Counties proprosal has “some good stuff,” she said. “It essentially says give us (counties) our freedom from mandates and we’ll take over some services that are duplicated at the state. There would be more regional service centers. It really is a major change in the function of counties.”
As a former mayor, Anderson also knows the importance of LGA to cities and how lack of it can be detrimental to the services they can provide.
“We need to lay out a formula based what it was created for 40 years ago, to make sure cities can provide essential services no matter what their tax base is, not to balance the budget or let politics come into play,” she said. “Core essential services are, by the way, state constitutional responsibilities: public safety, roads and bridges, and schools are in the constitution. If the state is going to say local governments are responsible for these, it needs to make sure they’re funded. LGA has just been a disaster.”
Acknowledging that many voters are not familiar with what the auditor's duties entail, Anderson said she hopes they'll take the time to learn more about the office and how it impacts the lives of every Minnesotan. She plans to make the rounds around the state again before the Nov. 2 General Election to both inform the public on this as well as push for her election.
