|
|
Friday, February 9, 2007
|
|
Querying the auditor Q. and A. with Erickson Senior Reporter About a month into her elected term, Crow Wing County Auditor Deborah Erickson already has a year's experience.
Erickson was appointed to fill the auditor's post after longtime incumbent Roy Luukkonen surprised the county board with his retirement last year.
A: "What I didn't realize was the number of different hats you have to wear and the amount of information you have to absorb."
A: "There is not one that is more important than the other. I think the greatest service we provide is being there to answer the different multitude of questions a citizen has."
A: "I feel that the auditor's position should remain elected versus appointed. There are a couple of reasons that I think it's important for the voters to have a say." Erickson said having an elected auditor who is not a county board employee gives the public an increased level of trust, particularly in a job where the auditor is the chief election official and chief financial officer of the county. "So by having that bit of separation from the will of the board and being accountable to the public, it provides that little added extra oversight."
|
|
|
|
Deborah Erickson, Crow Wing County auditor, is in favor of keeping the position an elected one. She said having an elected auditor who is not a county board employee provides added oversight and increases the accountability to the public. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
|
|
|
|
|
Q: What are the greatest challenges as county auditor?
A: "Our biggest challenge is how we manage the change that's going on and still make it an effective process for staff and the citizens. How can we best use our resources without adding a lot of additional staff or costs? We need to look at transportation issues. We need to look at infrastructure issues as far as roads and maintaining some of the services we provide the citizens. I think we've made some good strides going forward. The creation of the sanitary sewer district is a step in the right direction."
Deborah Erickson
Age: 34.
Elected as auditor in November 2006, previously appointed to fill the post vacated by longtime Auditor Roy Luukkonen's retirement in January 2006.
Started working for the county assessor's office in 1994 as a senior technical clerk. In 1999, she was named deputy auditor/elections administration coordinator.
Worked in a real estate office out of college.
Married Matt Erickson in 2003.
Has a staff of 22 people in the auditor's office.
What's an auditor?
The auditor's office handles a variety of duties: tax estimates for people looking at buying property; tax calculations for a variety of taxing districts; disbursement of tax dollars; most of the county's accounts payable and receivable work; county payroll and payroll for Central Minnesota Community Corrections; county board minutes and agendas; first point of contact for people transferring property; county retail licensing for liquor or tobacco; election coordination.
|
Q: What is the relationship between your office and a county administrator's position?
A: "It's really important the auditor's office and the administrator work in conjunction with each other and work closely together." In Crow Wing County the auditor, as clerk for the county board, has duties that might be performed by an administrator in another county. "There is some give and take between the two offices and so far we are working very well together. There are certain things, especially in the budgeting process, where the auditor and the administrator need to work closely."
Q: Was it a big change to add an administrator to the county organization?
A: Erickson said most of the significant adjustment happened before her tenure as auditor when the administrator was first added to the system. "That was a culture change to get used to for all the departments when you go from basically having every department in charge of their own thing and now we have a change in culture from looking at it as a Crow Wing County perspective. ... It's a change in that mentality from little individual fiefdoms to a cohesive unit that is operating on the best level for the county itself."
|
|
|
|
Theresa Goble (left), Brainerd finance director, and her daughter, Deborah Erickson, Crow Wing County auditor, worked together in November during the recount of the Crow Wing County sheriff's race. Brainerd Dispatch/Nels Norquist
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
|
|
|
|
|
Q: What is the relationship between the county auditor and the county board?
A: "The auditor is there to provide the information that the board needs to make their policy decisions. ... It's also my responsibility to provide recommendations, or advice if you will, on what the laws say. ... The board and the auditor need to work very cooperatively together and I think I have that kind of relationship with the board and I'm able to provide them with the information they need."
Q: What are you going to do to speed up election results?
A: "There's not a lot we can do to speed up the process even more. We have some extremely dedicated, well-trained election judges in Crow Wing County and there are numerous areas in our county that have high volume, large amounts of absentee ballots (processed at polling places on Election Day). So if you have a precinct that has steady, high volume voter turnout all day long they don't have time to get to absentee ballots until later in the day or after the polls closed."
Q: What's the most rewarding thing about this job?
A: "I have a sense of accomplishment every day that something is happening, that I am making a difference, that I'm helping somebody somehow. I feel that county government sometimes should just exist in the background without anybody knowing a whole lot about it, but it needs to be a transparent enough process that people understand where their tax dollars are going and what their tax dollars are doing. So my goal is we never make the news, we never make the headlines, but the thing I am proud of with my staff is they make stuff happen every day that is helpful to the customers. At the end of the day I know we have done our best."
RENEE RICHARDSON can be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.
|
|
|
Thinking about a New Job?
These employers want you!
|
|
Schools has an opening fo...
|
|
not a
9-5 person,
how about
11-2, 4-...
|
|
CASH!!
Independent Carrier need...
|
|
position plans sales trai...
|
|
is hiring for the following
...
|
|
|
|
Bids Being Accepted
call...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Today's Best Classifieds:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Overcast, 61°
