There was a moment at yesterday’s swearing-in ceremony for Mayor Sam Adams when the new mayor asked Portland’s elected officials to stand.
One by one, Commissioners Randy Leonard, Dan Saltzman, Nick Fish and Amanda Fritz stood to be recognized.
When Adams asked City Auditor Gary Blackmer to stand, he didn’t appear to be in the room.
Now we might have an explanation for why he wasn’t there. Blackmer, who’s taken heat in recent years from critics of the city’s publicly financed elections, announced this morning he is resigning from his post effective May 18.
That’s one day before the already scheduled special election for May 19, and Blackmer noted that the election for a new auditor can occur on that date, with a runoff —if necessary—on July 7.
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City council may be doing a disservice to Portland by holding a special election on May 19th 2009 for the new City Auditor. It is my concern that an election 4 months from now will create an ethical and financial barrier that will inadvertently weed out exceptional CPA’s from seeking public office. The main reason is that most of the professionals qualified to legally be the new city auditor may not be able to campaign, as the bulk of most CPA’s work happens during the next 3 months, aka Tax Season.
I propose that city council should appoint an interim Auditor and hold the special election in September (allowing for a runoff on the November ballot). This allows for strong candidates to mount an effective campaign and inform the citizens of Portland why we should trust them to keep our books. I feel that by rushing the election process the public is being short changed our right to audit the individual who 2 years from now will be on the ballot as the incumbent Audit
Good! He was a man who was too overly concerned with the efficacy of the police to pay attention to the job he should have been doing.