Feds On Prop C

Published: Thursday, May 8, 2008 4:02 PM PDT

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If you haven't had enough of the debate surrounding Proposition C, here is some scintillating reading from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the federal government's watchdog agency. It is from the GAO's "Yellow Book" on auditing standards.

The central Prop. C argument, detailed in this story and in this story, focuses on the auditor's autonomy. Supporters say the auditor would have enough autonomy under the new guidelines of Prop. C, opponents say he or she won't.

Here is the pertinent section from The Yellow Book:

3.14 Audit organizations in government entities may also be presumed to be free from organizational impairments if the head of the audit organization meets any of the following criteria:

a. directly elected by voters of the jurisdiction being audited;

b. elected or appointed by a legislative body, subject to removal by a legislative body, and reports the results of audits to and is accountable to a legislative body;

c. appointed by someone other than a legislative body, so long as the appointment is confirmed by a legislative body and removal from the position is subject to oversight or approval by a legislative body, and reports the results of audits to and is accountable to a legislative body; or

d. appointed by, accountable to, reports to, and can only be removed by a statutorily created governing body, the majority of whose members are independently elected or appointed and come from outside the organization being audited.

-- DAVID WASHBURN