Save the Auditor's Office

Recently, the Office of Linn County Auditor has come under an attack by the Linn County Board of Supervisors unlike any other attack.  The Board has attacked before and been successful in taking away employees because there was a weak link between the employees and the statutory duties being performed by those employees.

The most recent attack by the Board - see http://thegazette.com/subject/news/supervisors-could-remove-four-more-employees-from-auditors-office-20150505 is a direct grab of employees who are performing the statutory duties of the Auditor's Office.  And if the Board is successful in grabbing those employees, I have no reason to believe they will stop. 

Once a precedent has been set, it will be hard to stop, which is why I am resorting to raising funds for an inevitable legal battle to save your Auditor's Office. 

It's your office - not mine.  Yes, I'm the person you elected in 2007, 2008, and 2012 to perform the duties and oversee it, but it's been the people's office since 1873.

And it's been an independent and autonomous office - a check & balance on the Board of Supervisors since 1873.  But that balance of power will shift if the Board is successful in grabbing the employees, and then the duties of the office because I will no longer have a sufficient number of employees to perform those duties.

The recipe appears to be:  Take away the employees, he cannot do his duties, then take away the duties.  Repeat.

I need your financial support to retain the employees and the duties of the Auditor within your Auditor's Office.  I will be donating personal funds, but those won't be enough to resist the Board and its taxpayer funded County Attorney's Office for long.

So it's up to you!  It's your Auditor's Office not mine.  If you don't want me to be your Auditor, then vote me out in 2016.  But if you don't act now, there may not be an Auditor's Office by the end of 2015 so what happens in 2016 could be irrelevant.

You can donate directly at any Dupaco Credit Union http://www.dupaco.com  Ask for SAVE THE AUDITOR'S OFFICE.  You can make a named or anonymous donation.

Ideally, the Board will drop their absurdity; however, they've already endured the media exposure and I have no doubt they will proceed with the "grab" even faster now that I'm raising funds for a legal battle.

Remember, the Auditor's Office is YOUR office.  If you want to save it, then you need to donate now. 

Thanks in advance for your consideration!

Sincerely,

Joel D. Miller - Auditor
Office of Linn County Auditor