Published: 10.23.2006

Treasurer's Office needs new kind of leader

Our endorsement: Dean Martin will be accountable, manage state's money wisely

The State Treasurer's Office needs a leader who believes in transparency and accountability to the public. Based on his track record of advocacy for public records access, we know Dean Martin is a leader guided by principle.

 

The current state treasurer, David Petersen, is expected to plead guilty in Maricopa County Superior Court to a misdemeanor charge for not reporting income he made from a non-profit character-building program. The plea agreement also requires him to resign his post immediately, even though he was not seeking re-election.

Martin is running against Democrat Rano Singh.

 

The state treasurer is the chief financial officer, and the office manages the state's money. The treasurer's duties are more banking — receiving, distributing and investing state money — than policy-making.

 

Martin, a Republican, is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and serves on the Senate Appropriations and Commerce committees. He has the understanding of how the government finance system works to be effective as state treasurer.

 

Martin may have a personal challenge before him as he moves from a legislative, policy-making job to the more administrative position at the Treasurer's Office. But we know he's up to the task because his instinct to solve problems in the Treasurer's Office is apparent through his work to open records to the public.

 

He advocates a thorough audit to make sure the state's financial records balance. "It's figuring out what damage has been done," he told the Star's editorial board.

"There's no reason decision-makers and taxpayers shouldn't be able to see the books, the investments, of state money," Martin said.

 

Martin passed legislation that made it easier for the public to gain access to public records by requiring that government agencies respond "promptly" to requests for records. People also can now make requests via mail instead of in person at the governmental office, which makes it easier to gain access to public records.

 

Martin advocates a Web-based system that can be frequently updated to make the records available anywhere. "Every single thing the Treasurer's Office does should be open," he said. We agree. Making the state's financial documents public in the biggest possible way — by posting them on the Internet — allows for the most accountability. Taxpayers should be able to easily see how the state's money is invested and how it is distributed to cities, towns and schools.

 

Martin also suggests putting out a request for proposals to financial management firms, asking them to to help the Treasurer's Office come up with guidelines on how to invest the public's money.

 

Arizonans need to have confidence that their money is being invested wisely, tracked diligently and managed well. Martin is the person to make that happen.