According to the Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards, "in all matters relating to the audit work, the audit organization and the individual auditor, whether government or public, must be free from personal, external, and organizational impairments to independence, and must avoid the appearance of such impairments of independence." 

The County Auditor cannot perform the duties of the office with complete Integrity without total Independence. The two qualities are so closely linked that it is impossible to have one without the other.  I look forward to working with the County Chairman, the County Board, other elected Officials, Department Heads and Staff.  However, I will never forget that I work for the citizens of Kane County.  

Innovation.

As your next Kane County Auditor, I plan to implement a series of steps - a combination of new programs and modifications to existing protocols - to better serve the citizens, and in order to be effective I will require cooperation from every department countywide.

I don't want to re-invent the wheel. There are already programs and procedures with a proven track record of success; they just are not functioning in Kane County – at least not yet. As far back as the primary election I shared some specfic goals and strategies for improving the service provided by the office of Kane County Auditor.  I am gratified that these ideas resonated with both the voters and those in County Government.  The Audit Hotline was actually implemented before I took office.  Similarly there is also now a limited version of an online checkbook.  My plan is to develop the Kane County:  Access to Accountability project in segments.  The first of which will be to upgrade the features of our online checkbook.

I also promised to advocate for a comprehensive Risk Assessment Program, and I am happy to report that we have already conducted interviews with many of the offices and departments to identify and prioritize opportunities for increased operational audits.  An audit of the county credit card program has also been scheduled during fiscal year 2013, as well as transitional audits for the newly elected officials, and other special projects.