Jennifer McGuirk

Jennifer McGuirk became the Multnomah County Auditor in 2019, following a competitive race.  She started her second four-year term in January 2023.  As County Auditor, Jennifer is elected by voters and advocates for accountable, transparent, and equitable government.  Jennifer is directly accountable to the people of Multnomah County. She is a certified internal auditor and was a county staff auditor for more than six years before starting her term. Jennifer has served on the executive committee of the Pacific Northwest Intergovernmental Audit Forum and the Association of Local Government Auditors’ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. 

During her first term, McGuirk oversaw the County Auditor’s Office’s first-ever audit of county jail conditions, directed audits of the county’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, increased follow-ups on audit recommendations, and guided investigations of reports to the county’s fraud, waste, and abuse hotline. She established the office’s first community advisory committee. McGuirk has integrated an equity lens, primarily focused on racial equity, into the office’s work and has ensured that community engagement processes are also used across every project the office takes on. 

McGuirk also advocated for amendments to the County Charter to support government accountability. The Multnomah County Charter Review Committee brought amendments McGuirk supported before voters in November 2022. One was to establish an ombudsperson in the Auditor’s Office. The other was to ensure the Auditor’s access to information. Both measures passed overwhelmingly, by more than 85% and more than 77%, respectively. 

Before her auditing career, Jennifer earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oregon, graduating cum laude. She wrote and managed grants at higher education institutions including Lewis & Clark College and Portland State University. At Portland State, Jennifer earned a master’s degree in public administration, emphasizing local government administration and public involvement. She spent her graduate practicum working on public involvement with the Cornelius Committee, an all-volunteer organization in Cornelius that focused on making the community more accessible for families with children with disabilities. Disability rights issues are important to Jennifer because members of her extended family have lived experience with physical and intellectual/developmental disabilities, and Jennifer herself lives with mental health conditions. 

She lives with her husband and their two children in northeast Portland, where her children attend Portland Public Schools.