KEET-TV and the League of Women Voters of Humboldt County present a forum for candidates running for the auditor controller of Humboldt County.

Viewers may submit questions during this forum by calling the 7074450811.

This forum is also being streamed live at our KEET-TV web site And now your moderator from the League of Women Voters, Judy Bennett, Good evening.

I'm Judy Bennett with the League of Women Voters of Humboldt County.

I'd like to welcome all our viewers tonight for a live candidates forum with the two candidates for the Office of Auditor Comptroller Candidates with us this evening.

Our Karen Paz Dominguez, the incumbent, and Cheryl Dillingham, the challenger.

Michael Evans, one's name appears on the ballot, but he has withdrawn from the race The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government works to increase understanding of major public policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

The league never endorses candidates or political parties.

We do take positions on issues after extensive study and member consensus.

The league is dedicated to providing impartial information about voting and the political process.

To begin before we begin this evening, I'd like to share something with our our candidates and the viewing audience.

32 years ago, when I was president of our local league, K Strickland, a local league member, suggested we have television candidate forums.

I met with St Clair Adams, executive director of Kete at that time, and he agreed And so began our partnership with Kate for candidate forums.

A few years later, Carol Masterson, also a league member, took over the job a facilitating these events with Kate.

This past January, we lost Carol to leukemia.

So I want to take this moment to express our gratitude for all she did to make these forums a success.

We now have a committee doing what Carol did all by herself for over 25 years.

Thank you, Carol.

And thank you, Kate.

So to continue.

League members are serving tonight as phone volunteers, questions, orders, timekeeper and courier and their names will appear in the credits after the program.

Since the majority of our program tonight, we'll use questions called in from the viewers.

I encourage you to begin calling questions 27074450811.

And our volunteers are waiting for your calls.

And just a reminder that both candidates will answer each question.

So do not direct your questions just to one candidate.

And we will not ask questions of a personal nature.

The format of tonight's forum will be as follows.

Each candidate will be given a maximum of one minute to respond to questions previously sent to the league or phoned in by the viewing audience at the end of the question period.

Each candidate will have the opportunity to make a two minute closing statement.

The Office of Auditor Comptroller exercises General supervision over the accounting of all organizations and administers the county's major financial payroll and property tax apportionment systems, prescribes and exercises general supervision over the accounting forms and the method of keeping the accounts of all offices and institutions under the control of the Board of Supervisors and for those entities who maintain their funds in the county treasury including special districts and school districts.

The salary range for this office is 132,000 to 150.

So we will begin with Karen Paz Dominguez, the incumbent, and Karen.

Is there anything you would like to add or articulate on to about the job description?

Yes, thank you.

The job description that you read comes out of government code and it applies to all of the auditor controllers across the state.

What's important to note about the Auditor Comptroller position in the county of Humboldt is that it is elected and as an elected office it serves a different function that an appointed auditor comptroller might not, and that is the independence of the office.

The elected auditor comptroller is elected independently of all of the supervisors and the other positions that also serve as department heads.

And we have a specific function which is to serve the public's interests.

We represent the public at the governing table, so to speak.

So while those are the technical duties of the auditor comptroller, there is also that responsibility that we carry as the elected auditor comptroller to represent the electorate, the taxpayers, the public.

Thank you.

Cheryl Dillingham, would you like to comment on the job description?

So my comment would be the importance of the auditor, comptroller and being that chief financial accountant for the county and that every department, every special district, the cities and the schools rely upon accurate information coming out of the office and rely upon the auditor comptroller to protect taxpayer dollars.

The independent voice is extremely important, and I agree that it should be an elected position and that it needs to protect taxpayer dollars and provide strong internal controls Thank you.

Cheryl will stay with you for question number two.

And this is on transparency.

Why is having timely and accurate financial information available to the public and county departments important?

And how would you make this happen?

Having timely and accurate information available to departments is important because it creates transparency for the public and for departments.

It provides information for the Board of Supervisors to make informed decisions and sorry and transmit timely and accurate reporting is important because without timely and accurate reporting, departments can't do their jobs.

They can't get the reports that make the claims they need to claim and draw the funds down that they need to draw.

And I'm going to I'm very nervous.

That's okay.

That's okay.

It'll get better as the program goes on.

But thank you.

Okay.

Karen Page Dominguez Do you want me to read the question again?

Yes.

Why is having timely and accurate financial information available to the public and county departments important?

And how would you make this happen?

Having timely and accurate information available to the Board of Supervisors is important because they will use that information to make their governing decisions.

They will use that information to influence policy and direct the actions of the departments that they oversee.

The timely and accurate information is helpful for the public because they can also see government in real time.

They can see how the taxes they just paid that year are being utilized in the current year.

They can see how their investments in the county government are serving them.

How long is it taking for potholes to be filled on the roads that they live in?

How long is it taking for the schools to get the resources they need to provide good education to students?

All of that is helpful for the public to know in order to understand that government is working in their best interests.

So it's important to have timely and accurate information.

And the auditor comptroller is tasked with bringing all of that information, compiling it from all of the departments and special districts and other agencies that feed the information to the auditor controller.

Thank you, Karen Dominguez.

We'll stay with you for the next question, which is payroll.

In the recent past, county employees have not received their paychecks and overtime when expected.

Why does this happen and what can be done in the future so it doesn't happen again?

The issue you've brought up is not necessarily new or even in the recent past.

It's something that we've known about in the agency for several years.

Even before I took office, this occurs because of the decentralized nature of the organization.

Payroll is not while it is housed within one office, the Office of the Auditor Comptroller.

That is not the office that generates all of the information to complete payroll.

We depend on the employees to submit timely and accurate time cards.

We depend on the departments and their supervisors to approve that information.

We depend on the board to implement timely animal use and bargaining group negotiations so that we know what to pay employees.

And then we Detroit, we depend on the system, the software, the Internet.

We depend on all of these factors to function in order for us to complete payroll timely and accurately until we are able to bring about real change in the county to eliminate the use of paper cards.

We will likely continue to see errors in pay or even delayed overtime payments.

Thank you.

Now, Cheryl Dillingham, the same question.

Could you repeat?

Of course I would.

In the recent past, county employees have not received their paychecks or overtime when expected.

Why does this happen and what can be done in the futu So payroll is a very complex process and it has a lot of moving pieces.

The time frame is relatively short for the size of the organization.

Departments turn in their time cards on on Monday and payroll is issued on Friday.

That's the same timeline we use in Delaware.

We only have 20 employees.

So you realize the complexity of of collecting, reviewing, processing and entering 2000 employees into a payroll system.

And then there are all the variables such as codes that can be entered incorrectly over time calculations might be entered incorrectly.

A lot of variables that can create challenges and it's been a challenge for a very long time.

And until there's been a lot of studies of payroll to add it, it needs to be modernized and updated and Okay.

Thank you.

You can finish your sentence.

It's okay.

Okay.

That's great, Eric.

So Cheryl Dillingham will stay with you.

For question number four.

This is on experience.

Have you had experience in auditing governmental agencies?

And if so, which agencies So I've worked for the county of Humboldt for 30 years.

I've been involved in audits of the county I've been involved in fee audits, road fund audits, the Kelo.

Yes, audits cost plan audits.

When I first started, the Auditor Comptroller's Office used to actually do the audits of the special districts in-house I have gone out and done audits of organizations that were providing services to the county, such as a DC and I have gone out and done audits of departments to make sure that their processes and internal controls were in order and 30 years is a lot of time.

I have had a lot of audit experience.

Thank you.

Karen Paz Dominguez.

Have you had experience in auditing governmental agencies and if so, which ones?

Thank you for the question.

Yes, I do have experience auditing local government agencies.

As the Auditor Comptroller, I have been participating in the audits of the county.

But prior to my position of auditor comptroller, I worked in local CPA firms performing independent audits and some of the agencies whose audits I participated in whether it was observations or field work or actually generating financial statements for them, include the Humboldt County Office, not the Humboldt County Association of Governments each cog, the Arcadia Volunteer Fire Department, the Blue Lake Fire Department.

A lot of special districts and fire departments were audited by the CPA firms where I worked, and I was one of the senior staff accountants tasked with those audits that included the planning, the field work in the generating of the financial statements for those audits.

Thank you.

So, Karen Paz Dominguez, we'll stay with you for the next question.

And this is on a resolution of issues the grand jury report of 2019 identified problems with the Auditor Comptroller Office at that point, which office which issues have been resolved and which are ongoing That grand jury report was very important for the county of humbled to receive because it really put a mirror up so that we could see ourselves and see where we were failing the public.

The first challenge with that report was coming to a consensus with the board and with the treasurer tax collector and with the CFO about what were the key issues that needed to be addressed.

If people will recall when that item was brought to the board to be discussed, I did advocate on the side of the grand jury and on the public side to insist that there was a high risk of fraud within the organization.

Some of the recommendations that they've made have been implemented like appropriating funds so that the auditor comptroller could have more accountants.

We were awarded additional positions since the issuing of that report They also said that the close office would benefit from having an accountant on staff.

Since then, the board has allocated a assistant coach slash CFO, a chief financial officer for that department, and that person does have extensive accounting experience.

Thank you, Sheryl.

Dillingham, would you like me to reread the question?

Please read the grand jury report of 2019 identified problems with the Auditor Comptroller Office at that time.

Which issues have been resolved and which ones are ongoing So yes, I said the current Auditor Comptroller has done an excellent job of addressing the issues in that report.

And one of the things that was created was an audit committee.

And the purpose of that audit committee is to help create corrective action plans and receive updates on the implementing mission and correction of findings in that report and other findings that will come up in other types of reports such as the audit High risk issues have been taken care of through increasing internal controls and requiring additional backup And fortunately, the Board of Supervisors has allocated additional staffing to the audit or comptroller's office.

Payroll has come back to the Auditor Comptroller's Office, and having a chief financial officer in the county administrative office creates better communication between the two departments by allowing them to speak on the same level.

Accounting, speak, accounting.

Okay.

Thank you.

So Cheryl Dillingham will stick with you for our next question.

How would you go about initiating change in the department?

Initiating change is always challenging.

I like to identify what the change is that you're implementing.

Determine the reason for making the change.

Because change just to make change isn't accomplished anything.

So you need to have a clear goal of what it is that you're trying to accomplish.

And then you need to communicate with all of the stakeholders involved to see what their concerns are and how they feel that change would best be implemented.

Sometimes you may think about it and have a great idea, and then you talk to a department or a staff person and discover that there's more to the issue that you weren't aware of and the potential to have a cascading effect that you didn't know was going to happen when you made that change.

So it's very important to collaborate that discuss and thoroughly understand the problem when you're going to make change.

Thank you.

Okay.

Karen Paz Dominguez.

How would you go about initiating change in the department Well, it's not a hypothetical question in my case because I've had the opportunity to implement change in the office and I would likely do many of the things the same way.

So the first thing I did when implementing changes the department is I asked the experts, I asked the staff in the comptroller's office, I asked them to review our processes and let me know where they were experiencing challenges or where they were seeing bottlenecks or things that could cause delays.

The best example I can think of is an employee was spending all of his time making copies of checks, stapling them to paper copies of invoicing or invoices, and filing them in a box and putting that box away in the vault.

He explained to me that this was a ginormous waste of time because we had electronic software and the methods of keeping these documents electronically.

So I implemented the change and I said, Okay, we're scanning all of our invoices and we will be using our financial software to issue these payments electronically.

Six months after implementing that change, the county celebrated a 20% reduction in paper costs.

So I would likely continue to change using the feedback and insight from the experts in the Auditor Comptroller's Office.

Thank you.

I'll take a pause for a moment here and remind our viewers that they're we're waiting for your calls at 7074450811.

Please keep those phone volunteers busy.

Okay.

We'll go on to our next question and Karen Paz Dominguez well, we will stay with you.

How do you measure the accuracy of your work?

I measure the accuracy of our work by how many audit findings we receive when our work is audited by other higher governments or external agencies.

And also by the number of claim adjustments that we are asked to sign.

So as a county organization, every department is responsible for filling out their own grant application and submitting them and then filing their own reimbursement claims.

When they send that information to the Office of the Auditor Controller, we are certifying under penalty of perjury that the information on those on those claim forms is correct.

So since taking office, I've required that departments provide us the documentation that justifies those claims specifically because we were receiving so many adjustment requests where we would have to amend the claims, meaning we if we were experiencing a lot of duplicative work.

And then in the worst cases, we were being asked to return funding to federal and state agencies.

The worst case I've seen is where we've had to return or we've had to negotiate to not have to return $500,000, all because care wasn't taken in the beginning to make sure a claim was filed accurately.

Thank you.

Okay.

Cheryl Dillingham, how do you measure the accuracy of your work?

So I believe that there's two components you need to both be accurate and timely, because if you're not accurate and timely, it's it it doesn't serve the purpose because if the report if the posting isn't posted within that period where it needs to be, then when people go to make claims, the claims are going to be inaccurate because the auditor's office is going to go back and post additional information to that period, and that causes the claims to be inaccurate.

So one of the ways to be sure that you're accurate is to set strong timelines about when you start posting and when the month closes.

And to do reconciliations.

And through the reconciliation process, you find those errors in advance and before the claiming is done and make sure that all of the electronic uploads, all of the files that come in from other agencies, all of the tax payable batches, that everything is posted correctly and is accurate.

Thank you, Cheryl Dillingham.

We will stay with you.

And this is on the role of an auditor controller what is the role of the auditor controller in the county budget process?

So the auditor controller has three primary purposes in the budget process.

The first one is to provide budget control, meaning making sure that departments do not spend more than what they have been given in the adopted budget and also to make sure that revenues that they have said they were going to get come in.

Additionally, the auditor controller is responsible for preparing the budget schedules that go to the state comptroller's office.

These schedules are slightly different and have additional information than the information that's included in the adopted budget.

And then the auditor controller is responsible for providing accurate financial information to the Board of Supervisors and the county administrative office so that they can make informed decisions when they're preparing and adopting the budget.

Thank you, Karen Paz Dominguez What is the role of the auditor controller in the county budget process?

The role of the auditor controller within the county's budget can differ among all the counties in the state of California.

California government code specifically requires that the auditor controller be present at the budget hearings that occur on an annual basis.

However, specifically in the county of Humboldt, there's county code related to the duties of the county administrative officer, which requires that they perform the budget functions in cooperation with the auditor controller.

And the board has also awarded authority to both the auditor controller and the County Administrative Officer to make adjustments to the budget, to slight technical adjustments, and also monitor on a regular basis.

What's been important for me to note in this first term during the conditions that we've been under and the challenges that we've been facing is there's there's needed to be a flexibility and we've had to take into consideration the state of emergency that the county has been in.

And in order to not hold up operations, we've had to make allowances using the authority of the office when the authority of the board did not exist.

Thank you, Karen Powers.

To make us.

We'll stay with you.

This question is how will you work to resume state and federal funding for local projects and grants?

I'm so sorry.

Can you repeat that one more time?

Sure.

How will you work to restore to resume state and federal funding for local projects and grants?

Well, I'm not aware.

Well, how will I work to resume funding?

I believe the county is currently within a grace period.

We've received grace from federal and state agencies while the county completes a single audit so that we don't lose out on any funding.

What I intend to do and what I will continue doing is working with our external auditors and facilitating the exchange of information between departments and our external auditors so that they can feel confident and be able to publish that report.

As I learn more about these federal and state agencies that have shared that there might be a risk of funding.

I'm keeping a list of contact information for them, so I intend to be more proactive in my communication directly with the federal and state agencies, rather than relying on the staff of departments who may not necessarily be there.

To see and audit through due to turnover and other challenges facing departments.

So I do intend to take a more active, participatory role in the federal and state grant funding that departments are receiving.

Thank you, Cheryl Dillingham.

How will you work to resume state and federal funding for local projects?

And grants if elected auditor comptroller?

I will make sure that the audits are completed within the timeframe required by the granting agencies Basically, there is a requirement with the single audit that it be completed by formally it is March, but it was extended to September and the package has to be filed or some of the granting agencies will suspend or stop issuing new funding to the county.

Additionally, for competitive grants, it's very important to have current audited financial statements because the the you score more points if that happens and that will help make sure that the county of Humble is more competitive and brings more funding into the community to support local services.

Thank you.

So once again to the viewing audience, please phone in your questions at 27074450811.

We need to keep those people busy.

All right.

Our next question will go will start with Cheryl Dillingham.

There is a lot of conflict between the auditor comptrollers department and most other county departments.

Since you are not since you cannot control other departments.

What will you do as outer comptroller to bridge this division?

It's not always easy to read the rest.

So, Cheryl, if you would answer that.

Okay.

So what will I do to to bridge the bridge, the division between the auditor comptrollers department and most other county departments.

So my first comment is a lot of times people don't like the auditor.

They don't look forward to the auditor showing up.

They don't like the auditor telling them they can't do things that they want to do.

So let's really important is making sure that departments understand why it is that things need to be done a certain way and the risks to them and their funding and their services if if they don't comply with what the auditor comptroller is asking these, you know, the requirements and the rules that come out of the auditor comptroller's office are not haphazard.

They serve a very important purpose and they need to be adhered to and they need to be communicated clearly.

So my position would be to meet with departments, talk to departments, try to figure out what what their difficulty is with the Office of the Auditor Comptroller, and try to bridge that divide and bring them along so that we're all going in the same direction with the same goal.

Thank you.

All right.

Karen Powers.

Dominguez Do you want me to reread the question?

Because there is a lot of conflict between the Auditor Comptrollers Department and most other county departments, since you cannot control other departments.

What will you do is order or what can you do as auditor comptroller to bridge that division?

Well, the conflict that exists between the Office of the Auditor Controller and other county departments is not a unique situation to our county.

It actually does occur in other counties as well.

Often because of that authority of the auditor comptroller and the different priorities of the offices where appointed offices serve at the pleasure of the board and have quotas to meet and have obligations from their funders.

Their priorities are very much focused on the needs of their department.

However, the Auditor Comptroller has that bird's eye view where we are assessing the entire organization and having to prioritize in a way that not only benefits the county, but also the public's interests.

What I intend to do to bridge that gap is really I'm not trying to control the actions of other departments because I cannot I can only control myself and I can only direct the actions of the Office of the Auditor Comptroller I give a lot of credit to the staff and the Auditor Comptroller for the great efforts they have made in communicating the requirements and the needs and the explanations why and really it'll be up to the public and the Board of Supervisors to become more engaged participants when there is conflict.

Thank you.

So, Karen, we will stay with you for the next question.

I have been.

This is what callers have.

So when I say I this is a caller I have been reading about the delays in the current audit and accounting.

Why is the accounting so far behind?

And what is the plan to correct this the delays?

So this is a very unique situation again to our county because in previous administrations, the previous terms for a previous auditor comptrollers, they did not have to operate during an unprecedented pandemic.

They did not have to operate during the great recession, whereas there was staff turnover across all departments.

And they also didn't have to operate when the board of Supervisors was implementing several conflicting priorities, like the outsourcing of payroll to ADP.

That happened in 20, 20 which resulted in the delay of closing 1920 A lot of things happened in that one year, starting with the fall of 2019 when there were power outages and wildfires and declared disasters and then starting in 2020 when the county was outsourcing payroll to ADP and we were upgrading the financial software from one solution to finance enterprise and then the pandemic hit and we all had to go remotely.

There were a lot of significant challenges all occurring within a compressed timeframe that resulted in the delays that we're seeing today.

Thank you, Cheryl Dillingham.

Could you repeat I will read the question.

I have been reading about the delays in the current audit and accounting Why is the accounting so far behind and what is the plan to correct this Well, since I am not currently working in the audit or comptroller's office, it's more difficult for me to answer the question regarding why things are currently behind I do believe the pandemic certainly has been a challenge for everybody.

The the working from home the the ability to adapt and change processes there.

I, I applaud the efforts of the staff and the Auditor Comptroller's Office.

I realize there you know, stressed out.

There's been a lot of turnover.

So so my plan to try to deal with this issue if I'm elected, is to try to stay current.

Moving forward.

So rather than just continuing to be behind be behind, I would I would like to try to set strong timelines and keep current moving forward and then use all available resources to go back and get caught up.

Thank you.

So, Cheryl, we will stay with you for the next question, which is on corruption.

What would you do as audit your controller to deal with a possible corruption of public funds in a department possible corruption department?

What would you do as auditor comptroller to deal with a possible corruption of funds of public funds in a department?

So the first thing as auditor comptroller that I would do is ensure that there are strong internal controls in place to prevent corruption in departments.

Then you need to go out and investigate.

If somebody tells you there is corruption.

And I have had cases where I have been involved in situations where there were issues that were identified that could be considered corruption.

And I have worked with the in it all depends on on what the activity is who you involve in in the process because you could involve the district attorney, the sheriff, h.r.

But you need to thoroughly investigate the situation, resolve it, stop it, and put controls in place so it doesn't happen again.

Thank you, karen.

Paz Dominguez.

As auditor, comptroller, what do you do to deal with possible corruption of public funds in a department What would I do?

What would you do?

You are the comptroller.

So what would you do?

What do you do?

However you want to answer corruption Well, as a trained auditor, one of the theories that we study is called professional skepticism, where there's always that underlying suspicion that something could be taking place.

We never become complacent and decide that there is no corruption or that there is no fraud.

Or that when people tell us information is always 100% accurate because oftentimes there's human emotion involved.

And we also wouldn't just throw words around like corruption unless we knew exactly that something was corrupted or that there was a high risk of corruption.

Meaning there's means and interests and by someone to commit that.

What I would do is what I have done, and that is investigate fully what the situation is.

I would interview a related staff or relevant staff close to the problem, and I would also seek the direction of the higher authorities that govern the auditor controller.

That would be the state controller and the state auditor.

If it is a source, not small, but it's local, I would limit it to county council and seek direction from them.

Thank you.

Once again, viewers, we're waiting for your calls at 7074450811.

We want to keep those runners working.

Thank you.

Okay.

Karen Dominguez.

Our next question is about the future.

How do you feel about the future of Humboldt County and its financial health I have mixed feelings about the future of the county of Humboldt because on one hand, I'm thrilled that we're coming out of this pandemic.

That we now have the ability to go places without having to wear masks.

I have joy when I think about the vaccines that are now available to people who choose to get them.

But I also worry about some of the longer term issues that the county didn't address prior to the pandemic that will only continue to get worse And the example I can think of right now is the unfunded pension liability.

The county owes a lot of money in the hundreds of millions of dollars towards is unfunded pension liability.

And that's not going to go away.

We are still going to need to pay for all of the employees as they retire.

So I do anticipate that the county will need to look for innovative ways to address that unfunded liability.

And I believe that if we elect the right people to these policy setting positions, we can see great improvement just like we've been able to come out of this pandemic or slowly come out of this pande Thank you.

Cheryl Dillingham, how do you feel about the future of Humboldt County and its financial health?

I am concerned and I am concerned because the pandemic resulted in a lot of funding being put out there to organizations to help battle lost revenues and such things.

And it's created inflation.

And the county is now looking at struggling with a deficit, not even taking into consideration the unfunded pension liability.

The one of the things the pension liability does is cause the cost of purse to continue to go up as a percentage of payroll.

So that won't need to be addressed.

But the combination of inflation and reduced revenues and reduced revenues from the state and federal level is the the ultimate storm of budget challenges for an organization like the county of Humboldt.

Thank you.

So, Cheryl Dillingham, we will stay with you for our next question.

And this viewer wants to know how you will work effectively with the county's department heads, the CEO and the Board of Supervisors to restore a professional working relationship I will make that one of my first priorities.

I believe my experience working in the county for 30 years, I have worked in the auditor comptroller's office and I have worked in the county administrative office and I have worked at public works.

So I've seen the perspective from both sides I understand what it's like to be on the receiving side of services from the auditor controller.

I understand what what the departments I've worked in do.

And also by being in the county administrative office, I got a bird's eye view of all of the county departments and the services they provide, and it was a different view than I got when I worked in the audit or comptroller's office, where I also saw all the finances and all of the accounting and reporting that came out of those departments.

But when you work in the county administrative office, you also work directly on the budget with the departments, and it's given me more common ground and I think the ability to bridge that and and relate to department heads.

Thank you Karen Page Dominguez.

How will you work effectively with the county's department heads, the CEO and the Board of Supervisors to restore a professional working relationship?

Well, remembering that I can only control my own actions.

I can only control how I react to things.

I'm going to be very much focused on modeling the behavior that I want to see in the county organization.

I'm going to set the example by being the leader that I want us all to be.

What that means is I'm going to continue my studies in different learning styles and communication styles.

I'm also going to explore different ways of communicating beyond email communications and really, I can only encourage county department heads to consider that we are all part of the same organization.

And even though we serve different aspects of the county where they serve at the pleasure of the board, I serve at the pleasure of the public.

We do still have a lot of commonalities, and we have a lot of goals that are shared.

So I intend to just model the behavior that I want to see specifically because the public deserves good functioning and professional government.

Thank you, Karen pestering us.

We'll stay with you for the next question.

Where does most of the income originate for the county sales tax, property tax, or where the general fund revenue is driven by property taxes?

However, the property taxes don't just fund the general fund.

They also fund the schools, districts and the special districts, depending on where these specific properties are in the county Sales tax does contribute to the high revenue in a year for the county, but it's very volatile.

It depends on if there are sales.

Surprisingly, during the pandemic, sales tax did increase significantly.

So I don't really think that it even compares to the amount of revenue we get from property taxes.

So the winner is property taxes.

That is what funds your government.

Thank you, Cheryl Dillingham, would you like to answer that question?

Which would you mind repeating it?

Of course.

Where does most of the income originate for the county sales tax, property tax or where So the overall county budget, more than 50% of it comes from other governmental agencies, meaning it comes from state and federal programs.

So that's part of the reason why having the audits done and and having the required reporting done is important because that comprises such a large portion of the county budget.

Now, those funds, funds from those sources are not discretionary, meaning they have to be used for specific programs and purposes.

When you when you look at discretionary revenue, meaning the revenue that the Board of Supervisors has control over and can make decisions about how to spend, that comes from property taxes.

And then when you look at sales taxes, if you also consider Measure Z, and that is an interesting sales tax because of the process they go through to allocate those funds to not just the county.

Thank you.

Okay.

So, Cheryl, we'll stay with you for the next one.

Does the Office of Auditor Comptroller submit an annual projected budget for its department Yes.

Well, I'm sorry.

I know a little All departments within the county are required to submit a projected annual budget through the budget process to the County Administrative Office.

So the auditor comptroller's office that when during the budget process, this would be when the auditor comptroller's office would have an opportunity to request additional funding for additional staff or additional technologies or those types of things.

And then those would go to the county administrative office who would compile them.

And then the the requested budget would go to the Board of Supervisors for approval and adoption.

Thank you.

Okay.

Karen Paz Dominguez, you want to address that to the does the Office of Audit or Comptroller submitted an annual projected budget for its department?

I would say that the answer is yes and no.

The reason I say yes is because yes technically we are asked to prepare a budget and hand it in.

I say no because of what little control of the Office of the Auditor Comptroller has over its own budget.

Before the budget, has been created by our office, we are given what our budget is going to be.

We are told that this year we can anticipate having this much percent increase from the board or this much percent decrease from the board.

We are also told ahead of time how much the human resources department will be charging us for different risk management charges related to liability and insurance and worker's comp.

We are also told ahead of time how much our salary costs are going to be because the board adopts a salary table and compensation schedule.

So really where we have discretion is do we buy more office supplies or do we invest more in a training class Thank you.

Okay.

Karen Dominguez, we'll stay with you for this next question on a different topic.

Marijuana.

Is there enough transparency regarding the money generated from the marijuana code enforcement and how much money has been generated I'm going to say no to this one.

And specifically because I'm looking at this question through the lens of the auditor comptroller as the elected body for the public, the auditor comptroller's office does not receive a full, detailed listing of all of the funds that are generated for the cannabis permitting process.

Nor do we get a full detailed accounting of all of the cash that is seized by the Drug Task Force or other agencies who may stumble upon this money So as the Office of the Auditor Comptroller representing the public, I would say that, no, there is not sufficient transparency related to this function.

Of government right now.

And because it is all cash driven, it does have a higher risk of theft and fraud, as does all cash.

Thank you, Cheryl Dillingham.

Can you repeat the question?

Is there enough transparency regarding the money generated from marijuana code enforcement and how much money has been generated?

So I'm going to say, no, there's not enough transparency.

And honestly, I do not know how much money has been generated.

Code enforcement is when the county goes out and enforces existing permitting requirements.

So code enforcement of the marijuana industry would be when the planning and building department goes out and looks at a site and says, okay, you haven't complied with your permit or you haven't gotten a permit or you haven't put in the road we need or you haven't put in the culvert that we're requesting.

And through that code enforcement process, they can levy fines.

They can require more permitting.

They.

So sometimes the problem with code enforcement is who's doing the work and where's the money coming from?

So if if the county goes out and does it, then they can put a line on the property Okay.

We're coming to the end of our program.

So this will be our last question, viewers.

I'm not going to ask you to call in any more questions.

You've done your job beautifully.

Thank you.

So our last question will stay with Cheryl Dillingham.

What are the attributes that you think are important for an auditor I'm going to go that they mean auditor comptroller.

But if they mean auditor, my answer won't be quite right.

You can make your house or whatever you want.

So I strongly believe that technical knowledge and experience of the accounting and auditing functions of the county are important.

I believe that strong leadership and communication skills are important and being able to build relationships and communicate the mission of the office to departments is important.

It was what I think is important.

What are the attributes attributes that you think are important for an auditor?

Controller Well, we'll change the lingo.

So technical, I believe technical knowledge.

In other words, knowing about all of the functions that the office performs you need to know about payroll.

You need to know about property tax apportionment.

You need to know about accounts payable.

You need to know about doing reconciliation.

And you need to know where funding comes from.

You need to know all of that.

And then you need to be able to communicate it to your staff and to other departments, to the public and to the board so that they understand it and they comply.

And they do what's needed to have the accounting in order.

Thank you.

Karen Dominguez, what are the attributes that you think are important for an auditor controller I think the attributes that are important for an auditor controller include having a curious mind, wanting to understand why things are done a certain way and how they can be improved upon and how they would better benefit an organization.

I think another attribute of an auditor controller should also be a resolve to do the right thing in the face of adversity or increasing pressure.

Understanding the role of the auditor controller as the watchdog of public funds, as the enforcer of county policy that protects public funds.

I also think that one of the attributes of being an auditor controller is that technical knowledge and understanding that the technical knowledge we have today might change because laws related to accounting are changing all the time.

Every year you can expect to see new pronouncements issued by GASB, new rules issued by the IRS, new codes that get adopted based on who's in the assembly that year.

So it's a curious mind, a resolve to do the right thing and ask technical skill in continuing education.

Thank you.

Okay.

Now we're going to our closing statements that we are running a little short.

Well, we've got time, but each of you will have 2 minutes for your closing statement, and the first person will be Cheryl Dillingham.

I would like to thank the League of Women Voters and all the volunteers for putting on this forum tonight and thank all of the listeners that called in and provided questions and are taking the time out of their busy schedules to watch this I strongly believe that experience, leadership and good working relationships are necessary in the Auditor Comptroller's Office.

I've made a 30 year career out of protecting public funds through solid budgeting, accurate reporting and elimination of fraud and misuse.

I have over 12 years experience in the Auditor Comptroller's Office including leading the department as Interim Auditor, Comptroller and Deputy Auditor Controller.

I have a B.A.

in math and a master's in business administration with a focus on accounting from Humboldt State University.

I believe in good local government, and I recognize that our ability to accomplish important goals here in Humboldt County depends on our ability to build trust and make government work.

As your elected auditor comptroller.

I will provide strong leadership to develop a culture of fiscal responsibility, timely performance, and accurate reporting to protect the taxpayers money to ensure that the county can continue to provide the important services our community depends on.

I'm asking for your vote for Auditor Comptroller.

Thank you.

Karen Page Dominguez.

Your closing statement, please.

Thank you very much.

I am very grateful for the opportunity to be here today.

I have the distinct privilege of serving you as the auditor comptroller for this county, and I take great pride in the work that I've accomplished and the improvements I've made to the office.

I want to thank the League of Women Voters for putting this on for as many years, as you said.

32 at least.

I want to thank my opponent, Cheryl Dillingham.

We have worked well together in the past, and I know that whatever happens we're going to have a great future in this county together.

I believe that the county of Humboldt, specifically the taxpayers, the public, the voting public, you deserve an auditor comptroller who is going to represent you and your interests, who is going to be the checks and balances for the county organization when maybe the public's interest isn't at the forefront of the issues and maybe it's more about funding sources or partnerships or relationships that might not necessarily align with the public's interest During this first term, I've led the department through a pandemic and all the other special issues that we talked about and covered during this forum and I have the energy and resolve to continue.

I have the support of the auditor controller's team, and we are very much committed to bringing about continued accountability, transparency and integrity to this office because you deserve it.

Thank you very much, and I hope you vote for me in this election.

Thank you.

Well, that concludes our program.

I'd like to thank the candidates themselves for taking the time to be here and to answer your questions and also for having the dedication to democracy to run for office.

Key will be airing candidate forums on Mondays and Wednesdays at 7 p.m..

The text.

The next forum is this Wednesday May 11th for Supervisor District four.

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Everyone