State Auditor Rebecca Otto works on budget research and reports for citizens and legislators. The quilt she bought at a silent auction hangs on her office wall, its the same quilt that decorated the office she used as a State Representative.    Photos by Paul Dols

Reprinted from St Croix Valley Press

State Ottotor

March 1, 2007
by Beth Boivin and Jackie Dubbe

“What time is it?” asks State Auditor Rebecca Otto.

10:15. Don't you have a watch?”

“I have to buy one. I haven't had time.”

It's a humorous distraction when one considers the enormous role numbers play in her day-to-day life.

But maybe a watch isn't a necessity when you have an executive assistant like Joe Ceronsky managing your days, watching the clock, watching your schedule, checking on the fastest routes from your office to your next meeting and telling you exactly how to maneuver the St. Paul streets.

Besides, a watch might remind Otto that she arrives in the office early and leaves late.

The state auditor's offices are on the top two floors - four and five - of an office building one block north of the State Capitol on Park Street. Otto has a corner office on the fifth floor with banks of windows that look out over the Capitol, the Basilica and downtown St. Paul.

After stepping off the elevator on the building's fifth floor, you walk through a door bearing an impressive Seal of the Auditor of Minnesota. Straight ahead, past the assistants' desks, is a large conference room with interior glass walls and exterior windows looking out on the Capitol.

The wall of a waiting area displays photos of all of Minnesota's auditors since 1858, including William F. Dunbar, Caledonia, 1858-1860; Arne Carlson, Shoreview, 1979-1990; Mark Dayton, Minneapolis, 1991-1994; and Patricia Anderson, Eagan, 2003-2006.

The area has leather chairs, beige textured wallpaper and predominately green geometric-patterned carpeting.

After meeting with State Sen. Don Betzold on budget issues, Otto arrives back at her office, an office that oversees local government budgets - those of cities, townships and counties.

“The auditor's office oversees a $20-billion dollar budget. It's a lot,” says Otto.

On the job for less than two months so far, Otto has been busy learning about her duties.

“Previous Auditor Pat Awada Anderson was very helpful during our transition and showed me the ropes,” she says. “The rest I am learning as I go. I have an excellent staff that works with me, and together we get things done.”

Otto's days are filled with meetings, multi-page documents to be read and prepared, constituents requesting her ear and speeches to be given.

Otto is slight of build, but her presence is commanding and garners respect. She speaks with a calm measured tone, and she has an infectious laugh that makes complicated issues seem less so. Her intelligence is apparent - she does not appear to suffer fools easily.

Otto explains that her office provides checks and balances for initiatives the Legislature and Gov. Pawlenty propose.

“I'm pretty frugal by nature,” she says. “I always try to keep the public's best interest in mind.

“My job is to provide transparency for the residents of Minnesota. It's not sexy work,” says Otto, laughing, “but it's very important work. I want to work with governments in Minnesota in a proactive capacity.

“People do not want to commit fraud - often there is wrong doing that is unintentional. A lot of times it's our job to educate on current accounting practices. It's a lot cheaper to do preventative care than it is to have to go in and clean up a mess.

“It's our job to provide oversight, to see that local governments are following the laws and using good fiscal management.”

CPA firms audit local governments and turn their findings over to the auditor's office.

“We are a ‘good government' office,” she says.

Otto has a vision for the auditor's office.

“I want us to be proactive and preventative. We want to get ahead so mistakes don't happen - it's more cost-effective and efficient,” she says. “It's cheaper, like preventative health care.”

She wants the office to provide more trainings to help local governments better handle and report their budgets, and a clean line of trust and communication to let local governments know the office is there to help.

“It's like teaching,” she says, when a teacher lets the students know what's coming up.

Otto's employees think she's a very fast learner, but she attributes her ability to get things done to having been a state representative.

“I know how things work over there,” she says.

Otto's background in education is a benefit to Minnesotans. A primary motivation for her is to make government accessible to residents.

“I am here to help you. I want to educate people on fiscal issues and provide them with information they need so we as a public can make sound decisions. I really enjoy sitting down and hashing out issues and resolving problems.

“It's been really fun for me,” says Otto. “I'm totally enjoying it. We provide reports to the Legislature and the public to help inform the (budget) process, and that has an effect on communities. We're a steward for local government.”

A current issue Otto wants to tackle is the JobZ (job zee) proposal Pawlenty is advocating retaining. JobZ is meant to provide economic relief and incentives to bring businesses to Greater Minnesota through things like sales tax breaks in building supplies.

“In theory, JobZ is perfect to stimulate the economy and bring jobs throughout Minnesota,” says Otto. “It is meant for areas that have a distressed economy. It also could be used in ways that may be questionable.

“I want to provide transparency for the public so we as citizens can decide for ourselves how we feel about JobZ. I want to do an honest cost/benefit analysis and report on what exemptions are working and what areas need to be redefined.”

One of Otto's concerns is simplifying the auditor's reports.

“I want people to know they can make sense of it,” she says.

To do that, she has added charts, graphs and simpler language.

If it's not enough to head the department that oversees all of Minnesota's local governments, the state auditor also sits on six state boards: Investment, Executive Council, Land Exchange, Rural Finance, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency and Public Employee Retirement Association.

A notebook 3-inches thick lies on a shelf near her desk. It's the material she has to read in preparation for a board meeting tomorrow.

“I do research ahead of time, and I get briefings,” say Otto.

One of the first decisions Otto had to make as auditor was who to keep on or appoint to her staff and leadership team.

“We have a really good staff,” says Otto. “I'm very pleased.”

She makes special mention of Deputy Auditor Greg Hierlinger and Pension Director Rose Hennessey Allen.

The auditor's office also includes attorneys, finance and legal experts, CPAs and accountants and technology experts. Staff works at the auditor's office on Park and in the Greater Minnesota offices in Duluth, Moorhead, Mankato, Rochester and Marshall.

As a rule, says Otto, the auditor's office isn't much fun for the media.

“We can't confirm or deny anything,” she says. “Everything's confidential until it's finished.”

Becoming the state auditor was never part of Otto's long-range plan.

After losing her House seat in 2004, Otto didn't know what she would do next. As early as the day after the lost election she began receiving phone calls from people offering their opinions.

“Everyone else makes plans for you,” she says.

Fortunately, a good friend told her not to make any decisions for two or three months.

“(My family) took a vacation in the Virgin Islands and got healthy,” she says. They needed some time to recover. “(Politics) can get ugly.”

Until someone else suggested it, she says, “I had never thought of auditor, so I studied (the position) and interviewed people.”

It seemed like a good fit.

“I'm very happy to be in this job for four years, and probably another, for the long-term plans I'm working on,” says Otto. “Technology is changing the nature of the way we do things,” and Otto wants to have an impact on that, though she does say, “I don't know where I'll be in four or eight years.”

In the meantime, she's glad that the department was able to add a new search engine to their website to make it easier to navigate (www.auditor.state.mn.us).

“I try not to say ‘no' to things in life,” she says. “It's limiting. I like to be open to new experiences. For example, I just learned how to ski a couple of years ago. I thought it wasn't for me, but I took a trip with a great group of women friends. I learned, and now I like skiing.”

Would she say ‘no' if asked to run for other public offices?

Otto laughs.

“Well, I just said I try not to say ‘no,' but I am very happy in my current position, and want to do the best I can here,” she says.

Ceronsky lets Otto know it's time to get over to the Kelly Inn to speak at the Minnesota Association of Township's Legislative and Research Committee meeting,

“Out of the parking lot to Park, to University, right to Rice, left to the frontage road,” he tells her.

Otto would probably walk if it weren't so darn cold.

At the Kelly Inn, Otto addresses the group of about 50 and gets an applause early on, “Actually, I live in May Township. It's a good form of government. I'd like to see it stay in Minnesota.”

She has 15 minutes to let the township representatives know that the auditor's office is there to help them learn new accounting standards.

“At the end of the day, we don't want mistakes and we want to help people do what's right. I'm a bridge between state and local government, and I want us to be together on the same page.”

Of course, when she's finished and ready to leave, there are a few people who want to pull her aside to get her ear.

Her preferred mode of transportation for these trips is her hybrid, fuel-efficient Toyota Prius.

“I can get up to 75 miles per gallon when traveling greater Minnesota,” Otto says. “This is a second generation hybrid. I was able to sell my first hybrid and put it in the used market. I'm proud to be part of making (a hybrid) accessible to someone else.”

Traveling in her car is an interesting experience. The car is smooth and silent.

Otto stops the car to let a group of college students cross the road on their way to the Capitol. They're on their way to a rally, and their signs read, “College costs are outrageous” and “Education is the key - help pay for it.”

Otto toots her horn in support.

“They're right. They are paying too much,” she says.

When she pulls to a complete stop, an empty, returnable, glass milk bottle roles from under a seat.

“Sorry about that,” she says. “I haven't made it to the grocery store yet.”

Maybe soon she'll have time to stop at the store ... and maybe buy a watch, too.