State auditor Schweich discusses programs, plans for future

Missouri state Auditor Tom Schweich detailed programs he implemented during his time in office and spoke of his hopes for a 2014 re-election bid before the SEMO Pachyderms Club on Thursday night in Cape Girardeau.

Schweich is the only Republican to currently hold a statewide office other than Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder. He was elected over Democrat Susan Montee in 2010.

The state auditor audits state agencies, boards and commissions, the court system, counties that do not have a county auditor, school districts and public universities and other municipalities. Cities also can be audited when citizens petition the auditor's office.

"Improvements working off suggestions" of the auditor's office staff were the basis for several programs, Schweich said, such as the formation of a "rapid response team," which is designed to get to audits quickly so the entity being audited has less time to alter or destroy evidence of wrongdoings. The program also is known as the "Auditor's Swift Assessment Program," or ASAP.

Schweich said the program has only been used twice so far out of the 400 or so audits he has performed during his time in office but the program exposed "massive attendance fraud" in St. Louis public schools and a court clerk stealing money in Pineville, Mo.

Another implementation was the assignment of quality ratings to audits -- entities now receive a ratings of "excellent, good, fair or poor," which Schweich said he believes pleases the media and the public because the ratings are given based on specific criteria and make audit results easier to understand.

Another staff team in the auditor's office also now performs follow-up reviews of audit recommendations. Schweich said the follow ups have made entities more likely to comply with recommendations. An anti-embezzlement program begun by Schweich also helps more easily identify likely embezzlement through certain identifying behaviors, Schweich said.

The auditor's office performs about 150 audits per year. One agency Schweich said he would like to audit soon is the Missouri Department of Transportation, because he said he wants to get an idea of how well the state's transportation system is working.

The SEMO Pachyderms Club is a group of local conservatives that meets monthly at Dexter Bar-B-Que.

2014

The auditor's is the only statewide office for which there will be an election in November 2014, and

Schweich said that detail puts him in a unique position to set up Republicans for future success in other statewide races.

"I think I have a good record to win in 2014, and my goal in 2014 is to get us back on track to win," he said.

In 2012, Kinder was the only successful Republican candidate to be elected to a statewide office when he opted to run for a rare third term.

Schweich has been talked about in political circles as a potential gubernatorial candidate in 2016 when current Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon reaches term limits, but Thursday only mentioned the governor's office among others as "good for the taking," if Republicans do well in 2014 races.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

236 S. Broadview, Cape Girardeau, Mo.