CLAYTON 鈥 Time may be running out for Mark Tucker, the St. 亚洲无码 County auditor who came to the job in 2017 without any auditing experience and has little to show after 3陆 years.
Some County Council members are asking why Tucker should keep his job after a blistering audit by Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway pointed to his office as one of the county government鈥檚 main failures. Because his term expired at the end of 2018, the council can replace him at any time.
While not commenting on Tucker鈥檚 performance, County Council Chairwoman Lisa Clancy, D-5th District, said Friday she plans to introduce a bill requiring the county auditor to be certified as a public accountant 鈥渁t a bare minimum.鈥
Galloway presented a draft of the audit to the council in a closed session on Aug. 17. The audit found that weak oversight by the council and Tucker had contributed to the abuses of former County Executive Steve Stenger, who was sentenced to federal prison in 2019 for a pay-to-play scandal.
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The Post-Dispatch obtained a copy of the draft from a source and was the first to publish details from it on Aug. 19. The county was given 30 days to respond to the findings; a final copy that incorporates the county鈥檚 responses will be made public soon.
Tucker declined to comment on Friday. In a memo to council members dated Tuesday, obtained by the Post-Dispatch, Tucker wrote that he became aware of Galloway鈥檚 findings through news media on Aug. 20 and responded to her the following day with a letter expressing his concerns.
Tucker鈥檚 memo also informed council members that his monthly activity reports were kept hidden from Galloway鈥檚 staff because his office 鈥渄id not find it appropriate鈥 to disclose them 鈥渄ue to the sensitive information contained therein which may impact individual council member districts and/or constituents.鈥
Tucker also complained his office was understaffed and that part of his work entailed helping County Council members, or the full council, 鈥渋n various matters, some confidential.鈥
And he complained the state auditor never responded to his request months earlier about the scope of the state audit and the estimated cost.
Tucker also wanted council members to send him a copy of the county鈥檚 response to Galloway鈥檚 office and to assure him that they used his submissions without changing any of his words.
Tucker had most recently worked as a health care lobbyist when the council, led by then-Chairman Sam Page, appointed him to the auditor position in February 2017 after the county cut ties with former auditor David Makarewicz. His annual salary is $85,010.
Stenger, a lawyer and CPA, repeatedly Tucker did not produce a single audit in his first year. A transcript of a meeting in late 2017 revealed him grasping for words to explain his role to three council members.
The county charter requires the auditor to have five years of accounting experience but does not require a degree or certification. A commission that reviewed possible changes to the county charter last year considered enhancing the minimum qualifications for the auditor, but the proposal did not advance.
Page said in 2018 that Tucker had 鈥減lenty of accounting experience鈥 for the job and that a stint in the state office of administration was helpful to the council in preparing its budgets.
Page said in a statement on Friday that Tucker had helped the council expose Stenger鈥檚 鈥渜uestionable activities鈥 and that 鈥渋t鈥檚 important to recognize the work the county auditor did.鈥
Councilman Ernie Trakas, R-6th District, who worked closely with Page in the council鈥檚 bipartisan battles against Stenger, said Friday he didn鈥檛 remember it that way.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to say that didn鈥檛 happen, but I do not recall it,鈥 Trakas said.
Galloway鈥檚 office found that Tucker was 鈥渦nable鈥 to complete some audits and that his office did not operate within government and internal auditing standards. Galloway鈥檚 report found Tucker鈥檚 office had completed audits of just three of the nine areas it planned to audit in 2018, and the following year issued 鈥渁t most鈥 two audits and that Tucker could not even say how many there had been.
In his memo to the council, Tucker clarified that his office produced three audits and one 鈥渞eview鈥 in 2019, but two of the audits were not finalized and remained in 鈥渄raft mode鈥 and that 鈥渄ue to factors beyond the control of the auditor, it has not yet been determined if or when such audits will be released.鈥
For comparison purposes, Galloway found, the St. Charles County auditor in 2019 issued eight audits with a budget that was $125,000 less than Tucker鈥檚 personnel budget.
Galloway鈥檚 report also found the St. 亚洲无码 County鈥檚 minimum qualifications for auditor do not ensure the council will appoint someone with the knowledge or skill for the job and allowed the auditor to hire people who do not have auditing experience.
In an interview Friday, County Councilman Tim Fitch, R-3rd District, said Tucker should resign before the council takes action to replace him. Another council member, Mark Harder, R-3rd District, asked Tucker in a Sept. 18 memo to report back to the council members about what he was doing because he had not sent them a report in nine months. Council members said Tucker had not responded by Friday.
Still another, Rita Heard Days, D-1st District, said she only found out recently the council oversees the auditor鈥檚 office.
Trakas said Tucker鈥檚 performance was 鈥減robably the most telling part of the state audit, and I don鈥檛 think it can be ignored. I think it鈥檚 reasonable for the council to consider replacing the auditor. I don鈥檛 find that something that should create a lot of angst at this point.鈥
Clancy said in a text Friday that it was clear after Galloway鈥檚 report the county auditor鈥檚 office 鈥渘eeds more capacity in order to be stronger and more effective鈥 and that she was working on legislation to tighten up the qualifications that she hoped the whole council would support. 鈥淎t a bare minimum we need someone with CPA experience,鈥 she wrote.
She said she wasn鈥檛 sure why the council never dealt with the qualifications issue before, but said she had been more focused on leading the council through the coronavirus crisis.