St. Louis County’s county council is considering legislation that would allow them to take judicial action against the county executive, in a push for the county executive to allow the hiring of more county auditors.
This comes after County Executive Steve Stenger pushed for the dismissal of Mark Turner, currently the only county auditor in St. Louis County and the only black auditor in the state.
The St. Louis County auditor’s office is responsible for a number of financial functions of the county, including reviewing the accounting system of the county and recommending changes, auditing the accounts and records of public employees, and investigating “all matters relating to the receipt, disbursement, and application of public funds” and other fiscal matters.
Currently, Mark Turner is the only auditor for St. Louis County, and some county council members say this is not enough. In April of this year, Stenger froze hiring for the auditor’s office. Tucker’s deputy auditor then resigned in May.
Most counties around the country have three to 15 auditors. St. Charles County, for example, has six.
In response, the county council is voting Tuesday on legislation that would allow them to pursue judicial action directing the county executive to hire more auditors. Their legal grounds, they say, is that the auditor’s office falls under the legislative branch of the county government, not the executive.
County council member Sam Page introduced the legislation and said a “robust county auditing function” is essential to the functioning of county government. Any investigation into misappropriation of county funds would be conducted by the auditor’s office.
“The appropriate staffing is needed to bring accountability and transparency to county government,” Page said.
A report from the 2013 audit Quality Assessment Review of the St. Louis County Auditor’s Office found the same problem. The investigation found the office did not have sufficient staff for its assigned duties.
During surveys of county management, one item consistently mentioned for improvement was additional staffing so that the Auditor’s Office could expand their services, their report said. Also, based on comparisons with other governmental audit activities, the staff appears to be incommensurately small for the size of the organization
The county council included a line item in its 2017 budget that provided money for the hiring of several staff members at the auditor’s office; those positions have not been filled.
Stenger wrote a letter to the county council asking for Tucker to be fired. His reasoning was that Tucker had owed on federal taxes.
Tucker has not been fired. He told The American at the time that the first task he was given by Stenger was to review a three-year audit proposal that “basically gave no power to the county council.”
Because representing either side of a lawsuit between two branches of county government would be a conflict of interest for the Office of the County Councilor, the legislation provides a provision for the county council to hire an outside law firm. The legislation also petitions for access to county council funds for legal expenses.
“We’ve had this position blocked for six months, and it’s time for us to fill the position,” Page said.
The county council meets 6 p.m. Tuesday, September 19 at 41 So. Central Ave.
