My name is Suzanne Bump and I’m a candidate for State Auditor in Massachusetts. I’d like to begin what I hope will be an ongoing dialogue here at BMG.
Recent election results are proof that Massachusetts voters are looking for more from their government and elected leaders – and who can blame them? The economy is recovering at a snail’s pace, there’s not enough money in the state budget for what we have to do (never mind what we want to do), and partisan feelings are running very high. Depending on how you look at it, this is either a terrible time to be in public service or a tremendous opportunity to restore common sense to our government.
The Auditor must be at the center of smart government. As the person responsible for making sure that taxpayer dollars are used legally and wisely, it is the Auditor’s duty to root our theft and waste. In times like these, we also need to provide more value to the taxpayer. Performance audits can help streamline and consolidate state government by instituting best practices and new money-saving strategies. It is precisely during tough economic times when state government should be doing more for people, not less – and it’s the Auditor’s job to figure out how.
I believe that government can create individual and economic opportunity, but only if it is both responsive and responsible. Too often we interpret people’s frustration as a general distrust of government, instead of genuine concerns over poor stewardship of resources. An independent voice in the Auditor’s office is essential to restoring public trust and ensuring the best government possible for the people of the Commonwealth. That’s the kind of leader I have been, and that’s the kind of leader I will be as your next State Auditor.
I hope you’ll take a moment to consider my candidacy. You can find more information about my background and my campaign at www.SuzanneBump.com, or on Facebook and Twitter (@Bump4Auditor). I also want to hear your ideas about what the Auditor can do to make government work better!
Best,
Suzanne
The Auditor’s office can be a transformative one – particularly as we need to reshape state government to address the structural budget problems. You can be on the front line of driving that change. Exciting stuff and I’m excited about your campaign.
Have you ever done an audit? The GOP candidate, Mary Z. Connaughton, is a CPA with credentials that qualify her for this position.
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p>http://www.maryforauditor.com/
Mary Connaughton? State Auditor? Don’t make me laugh! Mary was Joe Malone’s CFO at the State Lottery. Remember Joe Malone, and the guys carrying out bags of cash out of the State Treasurer’s Office when Joe was in charge? And what about the mess at the Lottery when Mary was the “Chief Financial Officer”? The mess that Shannon O’Brien cleaned up – missing Lottery tickets, rogue Lottery agents, Lottery employees buying Lottery tickets in violation of state law. All those Republican hacks must be drooling at the thought of Charlie Baker running the state and Mary Connaughton covering up for him in the Auditor’s Office the way she covered up for Joe Malone at the Lottery. Really. Have they no shame?
Dianne Wilkerson. Those boomerangs you’re throwing are going to ruin your glass house. I have never seen Joe Malone in court as a defendant.
…nor is either them likely to get much defense here. If Connaughton worked for Malone then THAT is relevant to her candidacy.
And his relationship to Suzanne Bump is ????? Mary Connaughton was the “Chief Financial Officer” for the Massachusetts State Lottery, and it was another mess that Shannon O’Brien had to clean up when she became Treasurer after Joe Malone. This is not guilt by association (like your attempt to link Suzanne Bump with John Buonomo and Dianne Wilkerson) but guilt by incompetence. Mary, the Chief Financial Officer – a/k/a the person responsible for the financial management of the Lottery – presided over a Lottery that was riddled with corruption, mismanagement, and neptotism. And she is using that experience as a rationale for her candidacy for State Auditor? When Mary Connaughton can explain how so many Lottery tickets just disappeared on her watch, and how so many Lottery employees were able to play the Lottery in violation of state law, and use that experience as a rationale to run the State Auditor’s Office, then we’ll truly be in a bizarro world.
Although I’m a lawyer by profession, while Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development I led six agencies and more than 1400 people who performed regulatory, legal, programmatic, and auditing functions. The State Auditor leads a 300+ person agency and hires highly skilled persons, including CPAs, to perform individual audits. At its core, however, the State Auditor’s job is about leadership, vision, and advocacy on behalf of the taxpayer – along with the ability to exercise independent judgment. My experience in executive positions has demonstrated that I have the ability to improve the services government provides and save money for the taxpayer at the same time. These are the credentials we need in our next Auditor.
Could you imagine a circumstance where the State AG is not an attorney? I can’t, thus the concern that you have no auditing experience.
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p>For the record, my background includes 20 yrs as a practicing CPA. I have done audits, financial statement prep, and lots of tax returns. I’ve worked for large organizations and managed my own practice. I am struggling to understand how being a CPA with audit experience does not make for a much better candidate for State Auditor.
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p>Thank you.
the classic auditor is a person that compiles data and organizes data. Then the auditor reports whether the data compiled is in line with regulations governiong the data.
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p>It is a black and white function. The auditor reports need to be used as part of a larger picture which requires many more skills then the black and white world of the c.p.a.
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p>A liberal arts background helps. And, because this is a country and state built upon laws and not numbers, or pipes, or trees, it is good to have a trained lawyer in the job rather than an accountant, a plumber, or a tree surgeon.
I disagree with you! That being said, the tree surgeon example is helpful. I hope you have a great day.
Lots of paperwork is still, well, on paper. Even things that are available electronically are only scanned in versions of paper copies.
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p>Does the auditor have the ability/influence/jurisdiction/whatev to move
someall of these forms to proper digital? In short, I should be able to generate a native pdf for every single form online — just go, fill in the text in HTML text input boxes, hit the CREATE button on the bottom, and have a pdf generated on the fly.<
p>Why does this matter?
1. It’s text searchable. That matters when it comes to looking for specific things in big stacks of forms.
2. It’s lightweight.
3. It’s truly paperless — the state can extract the data on the back end much more easily.
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p>Going to a quality paperless system results in more efficient government and fewer frustrating interactions with government bureaucracy.
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p>P.S. Lots of cities and towns have very similar/identical forms for lots of things in their jurisdiction — things from the town clerk, building dept, etc. Coming up with a standard form that the cities and towns could roll out would also be an efficient way to move things in that direction at the local level too!
That would be the Commonwealth’s Chief Information Officer.
could make the case that refining government process reduces waste… and therefore could push on it.
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p>The CIO should be implementing things to be sure (DaveS), but surely the CIO can have his priorities motivated by “suggestions” (either bully pulpit or proper chain of command).
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p>So… in light of that… who’s job is it to review the bureaucratic processes in place to make sure that they’re efficient? Inefficient processes are wasteful, that’s why I’m thinking auditor.
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p>Yes? No? A stretch?
…(and it may have been this candidate herself) that auditing isn’t just about the financial books, but rather all manner of process and procedure which may lead to more efficient governance.
The audit function is often about process evaluation and developing efficient procedures. The audit function also requires a solid understanding of accounting principles and procedures. It is my view that Mary Z. Connaughton deserves due consideration for this position. Mary is a CPA and with audit experience. Perhaps it’s time to cross party lines and vote for the more qualified candidate.
I’m sure Mrs. Bump looks forward to you doing just that.
From Auditor DeNucci’s website:
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p>”When auditing a department, agency, or Authority, the OSA identifies and makes recommendations to remedy operational, administrative, and programmatic issues that are in need of correction. The OSA also looks for auditee compliance with laws and regulations, checks efficiency and economy in agency operations, and monitors auditee effectiveness in achieving mandated goals.”
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p>The Auditor can’t force anything, but definitely can make recommendations on any kind of change that’s going to make a department more efficient.
for.
Good for her. If you were on the board of a major company, would you require the new CEO to be an expert mailroom clerk? Or would you rather have someone who had a vision of how to make the company more profitable and the leadership skills to implement it?
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p>Suzanne has actual experience managing a large government agency, and doing so efficiently. She depoliticized the Department of Labor and Workforce Development and went after businesses that weren’t meeting wage laws of paying their taxes. This kind of big picture experience is far more impressive than passing the CPA exam.
The GOP native of my hometown Framingham has none of the qualifications of neither Suzanne Bump, Michael Lake nor Guy Glodis. My GOP-nut Framingham neighbor should just expatriate herself so she could classlessly heckle our American President for all the devil may care.
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p>Sincerely,
Ramuel M. Raagas
4 Garvey Road
Framingham, Massachusetts 01701-3072
for putting so much info about himself right out there. ZIP+4! Rammie Rags, what’s your shoe size? Favorite color?
She is running to be the State Auditor. It’s not a broad business that requires broad vision and foresight, its a technical and skilled department where the only job is performing audits. It would be silly to elect someone who wasn’t an attorney to be the Attorney General, because running the AG’s office requires special skills and an in depth knowledge in the law. State Auditor should be no different.
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p>If the State Auditor has no auditing background or skills, then I would think the first place to find a more effective use of state money would be the salary of the State Auditor.
She is running to be State Auditor. It’s a broad business that requires broad vision and foresight; it’s not a technical and skilled department where the only job is performing audits. I suggest you investigate what the Auditor actually does. See the Auditor’s website at http://www.mass.gov/sao/
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p>See especially: http://www.mass.gov/sao/pendin…
Writing and advancing proposals for legislation is not exactly in the scope of the classic auditor’s duties. In fact, the whole Division of Local Mandates is outside that kind of duty.
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p>It would be silly to elect a non-attorney as AG because they wouldn’t legally be allowed to hold the job. That’s not th case for Auditor.
Analyzing program performance is chief among the Auditor’s responsibilities. Determining whether money is spent legally is a wasted effort if the services provided by those funds do not meet customer needs!
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p>At the Department of Industrial Accidents, which I oversaw, a paperless workplace has been instituted – saving time for claimants, lawyers, bureaucrats, and judges, and saving money for the employers who pay for the system. Right now, applicants for unemployment benefits cannot apply online, only over the phone. But when the new computer system comes online next year, a project I initiated in 2007, service to claimants and employers will be vastly improved. These paperless solutions are ideas that I will build on when advocating efficiency in state programs as your Auditor.
Good to see you pushing this here.
“All elected officials are fiduciarys for the best interests of the Commonwealth”
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p>I would like your response and interpretation of this statement, if you are willing.
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p>My reason for asking is that I have been gravely concerned to discover that many elected officials do not know what the role of a fiduciary even is, and have functioned more like spineless rubber stamps than fiduciaries. The role of a fiduciary on behalf of voters is critical, and without elected officials having the courage to exercise that role, representative governance becomes a front for the benefit of plutocracy and oligarchy in my view, at least. So understanding that role, and how you would exercise it in the constitutional office you seek is very important to me.
Our previous State Auditor was a boxer and a state senator from waltham before becoming auditor, not the best qualifications IMO, what experience do you have both professionally, politically, and in life broadly that you think makes you qualified for this job? What separates you from your opponents?
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p>With that said Welcome to BMG and I am glad there are Democrats like you challenging Glodis.
When she talked with me, I became convinced that she is one of those people who can make government work efficiently, quickly and fairly.
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p>She’s been a State Representative and Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development. She really got that department up and running well, so that it was collaborating with other departments in state government to deliver services to the people who need them. When you connect unemployed workers with the employers who need them, you get people earning, helping their families, paying taxes, contributing to the Commonwealth. It’s positive feedback loop, and we need more leaders like Suzanne who can make those needed changes.
She doesn’t sound like a hack so that gives her a great advantage over her primary opponent and predecessor. Glad to see someone who wants to make government more efficient and transparent and I am glad she is engaging the voters directly through BMG and other outlets. I look forward to hearing more from her directly.
was a Representative from Newton and House Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Services before he became Auditor. Before that he was a House Court Officer and yes, he was a professional boxer and contender for the light heavy weight championship.
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p>Along with other lobbyists for the poor, the elderly and the disabled I learned to appreciate and value his committment to social and economic justice and his willingness to champion our budget campaigns and win for us when nobody else had the clout or the credibility with the House Leadership and the rank and file.
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p>He went into the Auditors job with a determination to hire the smartest most informed people, listen to their advice and trust his instincts to do the right thing. Nothing made him madder than someone or some corporation “ripping off” the Commonwealth.
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p>We were lucky to have him for so long.
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p>My favorite memory of Joe was him reciting with deep feeling, in the early hours of one morning during a all night budget debate, Terry’s speech from On the Waterfront — “I could have been a contender”.
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p>Everybody in place rose to their feet and applauded him as the champion for the little guy that he was, and still is.
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p>Suzanne will be great Auditor too, and I’ve already seen her get mad at folks ripping off the Commonwealth. Wouldn’t want to get in her way when she goes after them either.
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p>I’m proud to support her.
Here’s one example. In the early 1990’s, when Chair of the House Committee on Labor, Suzanne Bump championed a reform of the Commonwealth’s workers’ comp system. Before Suzanne’s reform, our workers’ comp system was one of the worst in the nation — injured workers waiting years for benefits they deserved, employers paying some of the highest workers’ comp rates in the country, a system that worked for the special interests but not the Commonwealth. The safe political route would have been to ignore the problem, or take Bill Weld’s approach and slash benefits for injured workers. Suzanne stood up against all the special interests, got the legislation through the House with enough momentum to get it through the Senate and get it signed by Bill Weld. By many accounts, Suzanne lost her next election because of that tough decision and diligent work on behalf of us voters. And today our workers’ comp system is rated one of the best, if not the best, in the country, in terms of cost to employers and responsiveness to injured workers. From worst to first. In my mind, that’s what being a fiduciary is all about, and then some.
Every elected official must be a steward of the common good – I believe that. That’s why I tell the story about one of my Republican predecessors who advised me during the transition to be content to “do some things around the edges and declare victory,” rather than actually manage my workforce development agencies. This is a philosophy which appalls me, but whose legacy lingers throughout state government. Much of my work as Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development required initiatives to rebuild agencies that were deliberately sacrificed to Republican ideology or were victims of systematic neglect. My father made it simple for me when I was a kid: “there’s a right way and a wrong way to do things,” he said. I always strive to do it the right way.
I’d be interested in a candidate who either
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p>1. Said: “Hi BMG. This is a press release. I actually don’t plan to return here, but I invite you to see my website and so forth.”
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p>Or
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p>2. Answered some of the questions on the thread, within a day or so.
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p>*
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p>I do think “Have you ever done an audit?” is a fair question.
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p>The answer could be “No, but here’s why I’d be good at the job, and would deploy the career CPAs.”
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p>My question is – In this job, you are pressured by interest groups to do “hit audits” on various people or institutions they oppose. What are examples in your career where you’ve resisted pressure?
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p>*
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p>BMG Editors! I propose a simple policy for everyone announcing a run for office on BMG. Ask them to pick 1 of the 2 options above. Promote accordingly.
At the Division of Unemployment Insurance, auditors monitor employer contributions to several funds, including the “Fair Share” Contribution program which supports the state’s universal health care program. Last year, I was pressured by Central Massachusetts legislators to pull auditors off their examination of the “Fair Share” Contribution program. These legislators didn’t want me to ensure compliance with the law that the legislature had passed! I refused to ignore my responsibility, despite numerous meetings and media pressure, and kept my auditors on the job. This is but one example of the kind of independence you’re asking for.
Ms. Bump:
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p>Kudos for not responding to political pressure. It would me helpful if those legislators that asked you to ignore your responsibilities were named. The citizens of the Commonwealth deserve to know such things.
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p>Allow me a follow up question.
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p>Could you imagine a circumstance where the State AG is not an attorney? I can’t, thus the concern that you have no auditing experience.
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p>For the record, my background includes 20 yrs as a practicing CPA. I have done audits, financial statement prep, and lots of tax returns. I’ve worked for large organizations and managed my own practice. I am struggling to understand how being a CPA with audit experience does not make for a much better candidate for State Auditor.
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p>Thank you.
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These offices are political and require leadership and skill – not just a credential.
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p>If you think the office was conceived all those years ago for CPAs alone then I think you fail to understand the office.
I’ve interacted with the Auditor’s office a few times and fully understand what they do. I also do not believe it is a requirement that a CPA be the state auditor. It is merely a preference that I have. My guess is that Ms. Bump is a wonderful person and a good attorney. I wish her well.
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p>FYI, it would be helpful if she actually answered the questions that I raised since she posted the introduction.
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p>Go Saints!
Or with every single division of the office? Because you don’t seem to fully understand what the office does. My interaction has been with the DLM and with legislation surrounding their duties, and I haven’t seen much of the traditional auditor functions there, or a need for them.
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p>What I’ve seen is a need for an understanding of how the state’s laws affect people at the local level, interest in fixing the problems in this area, and the management skill to turn a proposed solution into reality. Those are leadership functions (and for the first, perhaps an attorney function), not little a auditor functions.
I practiced as a CPA for 20 years and have interacted with the Auditors office on two occassions. One of those occassions included a meeting with Joe DeNucci. Nice guy! If I had known he did the “On the Waterfront” bit I would have asked him to do his best Brando.
I would rather have someone running the State Auditor’s Office who understands what the people there are doing. But if you don’t really care about the office, and you’d rather reward someone with the office for past political performance or to use as a springboard for a future political run then I could see why you wouldn’t care if the State Auditor has any background or understanding of auditing.
“Hi BMG. Here is a standard stump speech that you’ll hear at most campaign rallies. If you have ask questions, you’ll get an answer in the next few days. It’s kind of like actual campaigning, and while it may not stroke your egos that I’m doing other things as well as going on this blog, it’s not too far from what happens in real life.”
Just found out Bump was an insurance lobbyist for the American Insurance Association. One of their primary issues? Being able to use credit scores to determine insurance premiums. And she honestly thinks we want an insurance lobbyist with a record of anti-consumer issues as our Auditor??