Lauer, Benson answer tough questions

Candidates and voters alike are eager for Election Day to get here already. With 18 days to go, campaigns are in high gear.

While voters are familiar with candidates’ favorite talking points, The Western News decided to ask candidates to respond to the most popular criticisms cast against them. The candidate series began Tuesday with responses from justice of the peace candidates Jay Sheffield and Stormy Langston. Candidates for sheriff and county commissioner will appear next week.

This edition features answers from incumbent Lincoln County Clerk and Recorder Tammy Lauer and challenger Robin Benson.

Clerk and Recorder Tammy Lauer

Why should someone vote for an incumbent that proved susceptible to mistakes?

There are many aspects of my job. Elections, recording land documents, vital statistics, paying the county bills, clerking the board, recording surveys and the county budget are things that are being done through my department every day. In one of those tasks, the budget, I made an error on a spreadsheet. I make no excuses for that error — I made it, and I am helping the commissioners fix it.

I am happy to say that one-third of the funds have been paid back this year and it is the intent of the commissioners to pay back the rest over the next two years.

A wise man once said “If you are not making mistakes you are not learning.” This has been very true in this situation. The expertise I have gained during this process is very valuable to the future of the Lincoln County budget. To my knowledge, over eight years in this position, this is the only major error I have made. I feel the fact that I had the integrity to take responsibility for the error shows that I deserve to keep my job and continue serving the people of Lincoln County.   

What good will an experienced clerk do for the county’s financial position if the clerk does not have authority over the budget anyway?

As a result of the primary election and an early retirement, Lincoln County is looking at two new commissioners and the other with just two years in office. This fact alone makes experience far more important than ever before. For the past eight years I have worked closely with the commissioners on the budgets. I give them the numbers they have to work with, and I am in on the discussions of what their decisions on the budget will be. Past budgets are always discussed. I also have the knowledge of what changes can be made legally and what effect the changes will make to the different departments. My knowledge and experience will be critical to the new commission as they move forward to make the Lincoln County budget sound. My ability to quickly provide them with the information they need will be very valuable to the commissioners of 2015.

Challenger Robin Benson

While campaigning, you mention putting county budgets in public libraries and often say you have several ideas like that. Please list the other ideas you have to improve communication between the county clerk’s office and the public.

Placing copies of the preliminary budget and final budgets at the public libraries has been requested for years. I see no reason to not provide this information in that manner. Preliminary budgets should be completed well in advance of final adoption. It would be beneficial for the public to be able to view these documents and formulate questions to be answered during the budgeting process. Public input is vital to budgeting solutions. This is a way to improve the public process and improve public service.

I would like to be the first clerk and recorder to publish a “Clerk’s Corner” in our local newspapers. There is a lot of information that should be shared, starting with what services our office provides to the public.

Did you know you can research and print documents on the county website from home? Do you know what a declaration of homestead is? It is a document that potentially could protect your home should you ever be sued and only costs $7 to record.

Do you know you can access the Secretary of State’s office website and go to “My Voter Page” and find out if you are registered, if you are an absentee voter and where your polling place is?

There is a multitude of common voter and election questions that I would provide clarity to. Does the public know right now that voting closes to new registers the day before elections on Nov. 3 at noon and then resumes on Election Day? I can tell you right now that people will travel from Eureka and Troy to register and vote and will be unable to because they arrived after noon.

I would let the public know well in advance about upcoming budget meetings and other important commissioner meetings. We are in the technology era. This same information should be provided on the county website under the clerk and recorder tab. Commissioner minutes should be posted weekly. Many times the minutes are posted several weeks after the meeting takes place.

I will also be available in the office Monday through Friday during normal business hours to answer my phone and emails. I encourage people to stop in and visit. Any time that I am away from my desk, phone messages and emails will be returned in a timely manner.

I will schedule precise time periods that I spend in Eureka and Troy to visit with departments, districts and the public. Effective communication countywide would be a priority.

I think of myself as a public servant. I will enjoy working with the public, building relationships and public trust. I am dedicated to serving all of Lincoln County.

The county budget is already a mess. Why vote for someone new to handle a difficult situation? Wouldn’t there be a big learning curve you would have to overcome?

There will not be a big learning curve for me; on the contrary. I have extensive knowledge on how to do the budgets. With my experience and understanding of the mistakes that have been made by Tammy Lauer, combined with my education, I am qualified to fulfill the duties of the clerk and recorder position. I have 10 years of experience working in all areas of the clerk and recorder’s office including accounting, elections, recording legal documents, plat maps and surveys, writing commissioner minutes and completing all departmental wage reports for use in preliminary budget discussions. I also have five years’ experience in municipal government and trainings on subdivision regulations, human resources, public comment period, office management and budget development.

Although the general budget is more complex, the budgets should not take eight years of a learning curve to understand and complete accurately. All the errors are not necessarily about numbers and accounting. Preparing accurate budgets also requires working full time, diligence and strong work ethics, combined with effective communication with department heads, district boards, commissioners, and the public.

A clear example of poor communication is that Tammy Lauer has publicly stated that she has met with district boards for the 2014/2015 budgets, but this has not been the normal procedure over the past seven years. Another example is that Tammy Lauer states she prepares the budgets according to the commissioner’s instructions, but the commissioners’ state they have never seen or reviewed district budgets in the past seven years. After the clerk and recorder prepares the district budgets, it is a simple act to carry them across the hall and have a conversation with the commissioners. I would never allow this lack of communication, especially when there is millions of taxpayer dollars involved.

Paying attention to detail is also critical for preparing accurate budgets.

For example, the $2.2 million error was a mathematical miscalculation over the past 3 years. The levy limitation worksheet, which determines mill limits, is where the errors occurred. This is a one-page document and calculations should be double and triple checked by the clerk and recorder. Levy sheets should be compared from year to year. When you see significant tax increases, that clearly indicates that something was wrong and should have been found and corrected at that time.

Another example would be the voter-approved districts. Those budget spreadsheets clearly show that they were voter-approved districts with the date they were voter approved and the mill limit that was voter approved.

This situation also should have been questioned and dealt with a long time ago. In my opinion, the three remaining voter approved districts should go back under the control of the voters with a new voter approved mill limit, just as the Troy Dispatch did in the primary election.

I will be the first clerk and recorder that has worked in the office prior to being elected. This is significant because my experience will allow me to make decisions that enable staff to do their jobs more efficiently. I will also be able to fill in if an employee is sick, on vacation, takes a leave of absence or retires.