By Mary Alice Murphy

New Mexico Auditor Wayne Johnson, who was appointed to the position at the end of November when the elected auditor Democrat Tim Keller was elected as mayor of Albuquerque, visited Silver City on Friday.

One purpose was to host a training session to teach local governmental agencies about new regulations and processes to spot waste, fraud and abuses of public money.

Johnson's office recently worked with Silver City officials, who uncovered potential fraudulent use of a government credit card to the tune of about $12,000. "Controls are important. When we saw the problem, we turned it over to law enforcement." He said that fortunately it was caught early, so policy could be changed to correct the problem and keep it from happening again. The same person was approving purchases and being able also to use the card. "This audit not only identified the potentially fraudulent activity, but we've provided Silver City with a roadmap to prevent fraud like this from happening again."

"It's been 50 years since the last Republican auditor in the state," Johnson said. "I am now the incumbent." He filed for the office on Tuesday of last week, along with county and statewide officials all over the state.

"I want to let people know how an auditor's office can be run," he continued. "I'm making major changes. Instead of operating the office as it has been done in the past, I am taking the opportunity to uncover fraud in the state."

 Johnson said his office found in a mutual domestic water association in another part of the state, one person, with a credit card and approval authority, was siphoning off money. "We're now also auditing Albuquerque Rapid Transit for issues. We try to determine if funds were permissible to use for construction."

"We run a lot of government entities," Johnson said. "What's fine for a family business is not fine when you're using public money. In government, you're working for everybody else.

"The auditor's office has statutory authority," he said. "Entities have to open their books and we have the authority to opine on the way they are running the financial business of their entity."

He said his office just looks at the facts. "I've looked at opinions from the past that were just recommendations on policy and not a finding. If there is no policy, we can recommend a fix. We have to make clear the distinction between a policy violation and best practices."

He said an audit of the University of New Mexico Athletics Department found an issue. A man was working 36 hours a week but was looking for a full-time job and found one in Florida. He was developing the tennis program at UNM. He was friends of the athletic director, and they wanted him to continue developing the tennis program. "There was an issue with the Education Retirement Board, but we found no violation of policy or law."

The reason for the workshops, which he is promoting across the state is to give accurate information to policy makers on how to make good policy. "We observe and report and compare audits to governmental accounting practices. We have the ability to help where we find problems in processes. Better processes give better outcomes."

He said any entity that abides by Robert's Rules of Order probably has a better process. "They have the opportunity to shape process if they adhere to the rules. They have the opportunity to vote in better policy."

Johnson previously served as a Bernalillo county commissioner. "The Bernalillo Treasurer's Office had a $17 million loss. I discovered it in 2014, and the loss was realized in 2015. The treasurer was not following policy and the county was maybe insufficient in controls. The treasurer now has the ability to initiate transactions, but the Board of Finance, which is the Commission, has the power of consent."

As long as people follow investment policy, which includes security, liquidity and return, it protects the fund balance, he said. Bernalillo County, he said, with a $300 million budget couldn't make payroll as a result of the loss in 2015. "I was a commissioner at the time. What the commission had failed to provide were the controls to follow investment policy. Now everything has to be signed by the manager. It's necessary to have segregation of duties."