Dear friends and neighbors,
This month I presented to the Board of County Commissioners about my office’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2026, which starts July 1. While I proposed to cut my office’s budget by 3%, as requested by Chair Vega Pederson, she opted not to accept these cuts. I am grateful that my office will be able to continue our same service level to the public in the new fiscal year. This is uncomfortable to me because I know that the county’s general fund reductions have impacted critical safety net services. I also do not think my office should be pitted against the departments that my team and I audit and investigate during the budget process.
During my budget presentation, I shared information about how the County Ombudsperson has helped people in our county resolve issues they are having with county programs; how the Good Government Hotline receives and investigates complaints about suspected fraud, waste, and abuse of position in our county government; and how we conduct performance audits of county operations to support government improvement and effectiveness. In all of our work, we use an equity lens, community engagement best practices, and a trauma-informed approach.
I also shared the following about why it is important that Multnomah County develop a budget-setting process for the County Auditor that supports the office’s independence:
Having an Auditor’s Office at the county is not just a good thing to do to support accountable government. It is absolutely essential to safeguarding our local democracy.
This is because a hallmark of democracy is the ability to criticize the government without fear of retribution. This hallmark is no longer a certainty at the federal level, where we have seen a quick rise in actions, such as the firing of federal inspectors general without cause, that support a culture of fear of retaliation. This kind of fear of retaliation is not new for auditors at any level of government. The Association of Local Government Auditors even has a committee dedicated to supporting audit functions and defending audit shops that are under attack.
This fear of retribution can really only be mitigated by ensuring auditors are truly independent from the entity they audit. We do not have this level of independence here in Multnomah County.
I explained to the County Commissioners that this is a structural issue because the County Auditor’s budget is proposed by the County Chair. Generally accepted government auditing standards, the World Bank’s index of independence of audit institutions, and the Association of Local Government Auditors all make it clear that decisions about funding for the audit organization should not be controlled by managers or officials subject to audit. But that is exactly the situation we have in Multnomah County because of the government’s structure.
I will spend this summer and fall connecting with Commissioners to discuss a potential pilot for funding the Auditor’s Office in a way that is in alignment with our local democracy’s values and best practices for auditor’s offices.
Thank you,
Jennifer
Hotline report on waste
At the beginning of this month, my office issued the investigatory report titled Waste: The county overpaid for executive recruiting services by over $78,000, due to deviating from contract terms and failing to identify overbilling.
During the course of investigating a tip to the hotline, we analyzed 40 county executive or staffing recruitments that occurred between July 1, 2020 and October 17, 2024. This analysis included reviewing 24 county contracts for executive recruitment or staffing recruitment services. The total expense of the 40 recruitments was about $1.6 million.
We substantiated waste. The county overpaid for services by over $78,000. These overpayments occurred for two primary reasons:
- The county permitted a contractor to charge a higher rate than provided by the payment terms in the contract.
- The county did not properly reconcile submitted invoices to contract terms.
This matter is important because it is the county’s responsibility to be efficient with taxpayer dollars. The county’s current general fund reductions make this even more important. To prevent future, similar instances of waste, we recommend that the county reinforce contracting and invoice approval requirements to ensure that incoming invoices agree with the applicable financial terms in contracts.
We found that numerous county rate-based contracts lacked financial terms, which can cause confusion as to the intended payment agreement. In the case of one contractor, terms that would have reduced costs for the county were left out of a contract.
Additionally, we found that the county reached an agreement with a contractor outside of the county’s typical procurement process. We made three recommendations that county management has agreed to implement. Hotline Director Marc Rose, a certified fraud examiner, guided the investigation.
Community engagement
We will end the month tomorrow at the Portland Learn Share Do Fair: Building connections for a more climate resilient community, which will take place at Floyd Light Middle School. County Ombudsperson Cheryl Taylor, Ombudsperson Intake Specialist Kate Milne, Senior Auditor Sura Sumareh, Constituent Relations and DEI Engagement Specialist Raymond De Silva, and I will represent the office at the event. The event will be family friendly with free meals, a food pantry, kid-friendly activities, and community resources.
On May 16, Ombudsperson Intake Specialist Kate Milne partnered with the City of Portland Ombudsman's Office to share helpful resources in the Lents neighborhood, at one of Urban Alchemy's Safe Rest Villages. They spoke at two community meetings there, described what services both Ombuds offices can provide regarding issues with the city and county, and handed out contact materials. Attending focused outreach events like this one help connect vulnerable populations to the services Cheryl Taylor, County Ombudsperson provides.
If you’d like me and or staff to attend or speak at a meeting with your community group, simply fill out this form.