Dear friends and neighbors,
A question I often get from people in our community is about how my office’s reports actually support accountability. The short answer is that the reports themselves don’t. What does foster accountability is the act of auditing or investigating, as well as what happens after we issue our report.
Often, we find that by auditing or investigating a program or process, the people who manage that area start making improvements. Perhaps they become aware that an improvement needs to happen while we are doing our work, or perhaps it is an issue that line staff and/or the community have been trying to get management to address for a long time. But because my office is there, the change happens.
After we issue our reports, accountability happens when my team, county elected leaders, and the community - you - use our reports to push for change. We all have a role to play in building and sustaining just, equitable, functional government systems. I call on everyone in our county to use my office’s reports to help improve our county government.
In addition to using my office’s reports as a resource for improving government, there is an important way you can participate in your government now. As April comes to a close, the public portion of the county’s budget process starts. While I am grateful that the proposed budget does not include cuts to the Auditor’s Office, it does include a number of cuts to other county programs and staffing. I encourage you to review Chair Vega Pederson’s proposed budget and to provide feedback to the Board of County Commissioners about proposed budget changes, including cuts. You can submit written testimony and/or sign up to speak at an upcoming budget hearing.
Thank you,
Jennifer
We passed our peer review
This month, local government auditors from outside Oregon conducted a peer review of our office’s audit function. I am pleased to report that we passed the peer review.
Peer reviews are important because they provide assurance that your County Auditor’s Office has systems in place to meet rigorous government auditing standards set at the federal level, and that these systems have worked effectively. This means you can trust our audit results, as well as the processes we use to arrive at those results.
Our office receives a peer review every three years. The Association of Local Government Auditors selects the peer reviewers and provides guidelines for the peer review. The review covered our audit work for the years 2023 through 2025. You can learn more about our 2026 peer review here.
I asked Commissioners to advocate for implementing recommendations
When contracted service providers close, real people are impacted - both people receiving services from the provider and those who work for the provider.
The closure of Sunstone Way presents a service-disruption risk to the county. My office has made multiple recommendations to the Homeless Services Department over the past several years that may have reduced this risk, if they had been implemented. I sent a memo to the Board of County Commissioners describing my office’s work related to Sunstone Way, listing our recommendations, and requesting that they advocate for implementing recommendations.
Salary Commission issued their report
One of the tasks the County Charter assigns to the County Auditor is to appoint a Salary Commission every even year. This group sets the salaries for the Chair, Commissioners, and Sheriff, as well as a county supplement for the District Attorney’s salary. Salary Commissioners are human resource professionals with compensation experience.
After regularly meeting since January, the 2026 Salary Commission issued their report this month. I am very grateful to the Salary Commissioners for their thoughtfulness and dedication. Thank you to our Salary Commissioners:
- Dr. Koffi Dessou
- Sara Hamlet
- Heather Pedersen, Co-Chair
- Travis Southworth-Neumeyer, Co-Chair
- Cheryl Stryker, Secretary
(The Salary Commission does not set the salary for the County Auditor; County Charter states that the County Auditor’s salary will be 4/5 of a circuit court judge’s salary.)
Community engagement
Window into Solitary listening session
On April 18, Constituent Relations & Equity Director Raymond De Silva, Ombudsperson Intake Specialist Gelsi Tuz-Uxul, and I attended the Window into Solitary community listening session event at the BLACK Gallery in downtown Portland. With other community members, we learned about solitary confinement in the state of Oregon. The panel included Grant Hartley (Multnomah County Director, Metropolitan Public Defender), Ben Haile (Senior Council, Oregon Justice Resource Center), Mark Wilson (Paralegal, Oregon Justice Resource Center), Chris Lambert (Regional Director, Oregon Justice Network; also affiliated with Rose City Jam), and Chris Blackwell (organizer of Window Into Solitary Confinement exhibit).
Engagement with the BLACK Gallery
On April 25, Audit Director Nicole Dewees and Senior Auditor Mandi Hood gave a presentation at the BLACK Gallery about our performance audits of jail conditions, including the use of solitary confinement, and adult probation and parole. Constituent Relations & Equity Director Raymond De Silva and Ombudsperson Intake Specialist Gelsi Tuz-Uxul also attended.
Community Services Network (CSN) Nonprofit Connect
This afternoon, my office will be tabling at the 6th annual CSN Nonprofit Connect. Come visit our table -- my staff is ready to share resources and hear your thoughts on local government. Ombudsperson Cheryl Taylor, Audit Director Caroline Zavitkovski, Senior Auditor Surakata Sumareh, Performance Auditor Jeremy Johnson, and Ombudsperson Intake Specialist Gelsi Tuz-Uxul will be in attendance.
Invite Auditor McGuirk to attend an event or meeting
If you’d like me and or staff to attend or speak at a meeting with your community group, simply fill out this form.