Auditor candidate calls for more transparency in state government

Missouri state auditor candidate David Wasinger called for greater transparency in state government during a visit Thursday to Cape Girardeau.

"My goal is to clean up Jefferson City and restore confidence in state government," the Republican candidate said in a sit-down interview with the Southeast Missourian in advance of a gathering with GOP supporters.

Wasinger, who grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, is one of four GOP candidates competing in the August primary. The winner will take on Democratic Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway in the November general election.

Wasinger said he is the only certified public accountant among the Republican candidates. In addition to being an accountant, Wasinger is a St. Louis attorney.

Voters, he said, want a state auditor who has the qualifications needed to conduct audits.

Wasinger gained national recognition after the 2008 financial crisis when he filed suit against Countrywide Home Loans. The litigation, coupled with legal efforts in New York City, led to major settlements with Wall Street banks, according to Wasinger's campaign literature.

In an effort to make state government actions more transparent, he said he favors strengthening Missouri's Sunshine Law to make government records more accessible to the public.

The open-records law does not require state lawmakers to disclose requested emails. Wasinger said he believes emails involving governmental business should be open records.

Missouri's Sunshine Law needs to be updated "to catch up" with today's technology involving emails, online texts and text-deleting apps. Such apps provide a way for government officials and lawmakers to get around the Sunshine Law, which Wasinger believes is wrong.

Wasinger said the state needs a modern, online "portal" that allows Missourians to readily access information on the state budget and how tax dollars are being spent.

Missouri, he said, would benefit from having an online site like the State of Ohio does. The Ohio website provides a searchable database of state government expenses.

In addition to making state finances more transparent, Wasinger said, "we need to prioritize our spending."

Wasinger said the auditor's office needs to perform more and better audits. Among other things, the auditor's office needs to scrutinize the operations of tax-funded community improvement districts (CIDs) which often operate with little oversight, he said.

Galloway, however, has audited numerous CIDs and issued reports critical of the operations of such taxing entities since being appointed auditor by then Gov. Jay Nixon in 2015.

Wasinger said the next state auditor could be faced with redrawing legislative district boundaries if voters approve a statewide ballot initiative.

A "Clean Missouri" initiative, slated to be on the November ballot, would give the state auditor the power to appoint an unelected demographer to redraw Missouri's legislative districts.

The job of congressional redistricting in Missouri currently is in the hands of the state Legislature. The job of redrawing state Senate and House seats are assigned to two bipartisan commissions appointed by the governor. Failure by either or both commissions places the responsibility of state legislative redistricting in the hands of an appellate commission appointed by the Missouri Supreme Court.

But Wasinger, who favors campaign finance reforms, said he doesn't believe the auditor should control the redistricting process.

The ballot initiative would do away with the requirement in Missouri that districts be "contiguous and compact," he said, adding that could lead to unfairly drawn districts.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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