Martin can clean up the mess

Oct. 3, 2006 12:00 AM

In our perfect world, someone like Richard Petrenka would be running for state treasurer right now.

Fourteen years experience administering the billions of dollars worth of state investments . . . ample professional résumé . . . even-keeled temperament . . . virtually unsullied by politics.

Unfortunately, the former deputy state treasurer is in the private sector now, dispatched from state government when he lost a Republican primary in 2002 to David Petersen.

And so, Arizona voters will have to look elsewhere for someone to clean up the wretched mess that Petersen has made of his important office.

Fortunately, state Sen. Dean Martin, a skilled veteran of legislative budget-making and appropriations, has the résumé for the job. He has some good notions about how to sweep up the debris created by Petersen.

Petersen's office has been sorely wounded by scandal. He is the subject of a criminal investigation by the Attorney General's Office, and rarely makes an appearance at his own office anymore. His tenure has been wracked by heavy staff turnover. In the first truly smart move of his political career, Petersen earlier this year decided not to run again.

The Arizona Republic recommends Martin, a 32-year-old Republican, for state treasurer. The state senator shows strong promise to stabilize a vitally important state agency that oversees $9.5 billion.

Martin is much respected among his legislative peers for his financial acumen. He has chaired the Senate Finance Committee and has served on the Senate appropriations and commerce committees. Martin has a laudable record of advancing new-technology issues and he is a truly committed advocate of open government. Martin-sponsored legislation in 2002 greatly improved government responsiveness to public-records requests.

Martin's opponent is Democrat Rano Singh, 52, a community college professor and biotech consultant.

Spurred into politics following the shooting death of her friend, gas-station owner Balbir Singh Sodhi of Mesa, following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, Singh ran for the state Legislature in 2004 and considered a run for secretary of state before settling on the treasurer's race.

Singh also has zeroed in on the essential job of the next treasurer, which is re-establishing the integrity of the office.

Beyond righting the ship, however, Singh's proposals for the investments-oriented office seem too much tied to her preferred social policies. She wishes to use the office to promote innovation at the state universities, to promote public use of mass transit and to aid in energy conservation projects. That is beyond the scope of the Office of State Treasurer and suggests a drift toward politics more appropriate to the Legislature.

Martin has good notions for fixing what the outgoing treasurer has broken. The most important task for an incoming treasurer, he says, is to stabilize, restructure and re-hire good employees. And, in keeping with his open-records advocacy, Martin contends there is not "a single part of (the treasurer's office) that shouldn't be open to the public."

Martin is far more inclined toward the basic essentials of wise investing and prudent money handling. We recommend Dean Martin as the best choice for state treasurer.