Public Auditor of Guam

Last updated

The Public Auditor of Guam is an elected territorial office independent of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the Government of Guam. Five individuals have held the office of Public Auditor since its creation in 1994. The incumbent is Benjamin Cruz.

Contents

Election and term of office

The auditor was initially appointed to a six-year term by the governor after a commission recommended at least three candidates, and then be subject to a retention vote by voters (similar to judges). [1] Neither appointed auditor served long enough to face a retention election. In 1999, legislation changed the office to a nonpartisan election with four-year terms and no term limits. [2]

Powers and duties

The Public Auditor heads Guam's Office of Public Accountability, which is tasked with promoting effective management of public resources through audits of territorial agencies and local governments and administration of procurement appeals. [3] The Public Auditor is also responsible for:

  1. maintaining a government ethics training program for elected and appointed public officials; [4]
  2. operating a hotline for investigating citizen concerns and whistleblower complaints of fraud and abuse of power; [5] and
  3. publishing meeting agendas and approved minutes prepared by territorial agencies, boards, commissions, and public corporations. [6]

History

The position of Public Auditor was established in 1992 and was originally appointed. In 2000, Doris Flores Brooks became the first Public Auditor elected.

List of Public Auditors (1994–present)

Appointed auditors
NameStartEnd
Robert Cruz [1] 19941998
Sonny Shelton [1] 1998January 1, 2001
Elected auditors
NameStartEndParty
Officially Nonpartisan
Doris Brooks [3] [7] January 1, 2001June 8, 2018 Republican
Yukari Hechanova
Acting
June 8, 2018September 13, 2018 Republican
Benjamin Cruz [8] September 13, 2018present Democratic

See also

Related Research Articles

Nonpartisan democracy is a system of representative government or organization such that universal and periodic elections take place without reference to political parties. Sometimes electioneering and even speaking about candidates may be discouraged, so as not to prejudice others' decisions or create a contentious atmosphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Les Merritt</span> American accountant and politician

Leslie Merritt Jr. is an American accountant and politician. A Republican, he served as the State Auditor of North Carolina from January 15, 2005 to January 10, 2009. Merrit was born in Sampson County. After graduating from college and marrying he moved to Zebulon and ran an accounting firm. He served on the Wake County Board of Commissioners from 1994 to 1998. He ran for the office of State Auditor of North Carolina in 2000 and lost, but was elected four years later. He lost a reelection bid four years later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Carolina State Auditor</span> Auditor of the U.S. state of North Carolina

The State Auditor of North Carolina is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The state auditor is a constitutional officer responsible for overseeing and reviewing the financial accounts of all state government agencies. The auditor also conducts performance audits of state agencies, ensures state agencies' accounting conforms with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, evaluates the integrity of computer-generated information, and investigates the misuse of state funds or property. The incumbent is Jessica Holmes, who became state auditor on December 16, 2023.

The Missouri Plan is a method for the selection of judges. It originated in Missouri in 1940 and has been adopted by many states of the United States. Similar methods are used in some other countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honolulu City Council</span> City council in Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu City Council is the legislature of the City and County of Honolulu, the capital and largest city in Hawai'i, the fiftieth state in the United States. The City and County of Honolulu is a municipal corporation that manages government aspects traditionally exercised by both municipalities and counties in other states. Each of the nine members of its city council is elected to a four-year term and can serve no more than two consecutive terms. Council members are elected by voters in nine administrative districts that, since 1991, are reapportioned every ten years. Like the Honolulu mayor, members of the city council are elected via nonpartisan elections.

General elections were held in Guam on November 2, 2004 in order to elect all 15 members of the legislature, the federal delegate, mayors of 14 cities, vice mayors of three cities, the public auditor, the Consolidated Commission on Utilities, two judges of the Superior Court, running for retention and the Guam Public Education Policy Board. Voters also voted on the President of the United States although the territory sent no representatives to the electoral college. There was also a referendum on allowing gambling, which was rejected by voters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republican Party of Guam</span> Guam affiliate of the Republican Party

The Republican Party of Guam, commonly referred to as Guam GOP, is a political party in Guam affiliated with the United States Republican Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Democratic Party of Guam</span> Political party in Guam

The Democratic Party of Guam is a political party in Guam affiliated with the U.S. Democratic Party. Its origins lie in the Popular Party, which was the only political party on Guam until 1956.

Benjamin Joseph "BJ" Franquez Cruz is a Chamorro lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as the Speaker of the 34th Guam Legislature from 2017 to 2018 and as Vice Speaker from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the Guam Legislature from 2005 to 2007 and again from 2008 to 2018. He was Chief Justice of the Guam Supreme Court from 1999 to 2001. In September 2018, Cruz was elected to serve as Public Auditor of Guam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State auditor</span> Executive officer of a U.S. state

State auditors are fiscal officers lodged in the executive or legislative branches of U.S. state governments who serve as external auditors, program evaluators, financial controllers, bookkeepers, or inspectors general of public funds. The office of state auditor may be a creature of the state constitution or one created by statutory law.

General elections were held in Guam on November 7, 2006, in order to elect the governor, all 15 seats in the Legislature and the federal delegate. There was also a double referendum on legalise slot machines at racing tracks and raising the age at which citizens could purchase and consume alcohol to 21.

General elections were held in Guam on November 5, 2002 in order to elect the governor, all 15 members of the Legislature and the Federal delegate to the US Congress. There was also a referendum on raising the age at which alcohol could be bought and consumed to 21. The proposal was rejected by voters.

The Government of Guam (GovGuam) is a presidential representative democratic system, whereby the president is the head of state and the governor is head of government, and of a multi-party system. Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States with policy relations between Guam and the US under the jurisdiction of the Office of Insular Affairs.

The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (G.A.B.) was a regulatory agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin which administered and enforced Wisconsin law pertaining to campaign finance, elections, ethics, and lobbying. The board was composed of six retired Wisconsin judges who served staggered, six-year terms. The board was created in 2007 as an attempt to reform and modernize Wisconsin's elections and ethics management. The board was dissolved in 2016 by the Republican legislature and replaced by two new commissions with explicitly partisan appointees, over the objections of Democratic legislators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael San Nicolas</span> Guamanian politician (born 1981)

Michael Franklin Quitugua San Nicolas is a Guamanian Democratic Party politician, who served as the delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives for Guam's at-large congressional district from 2019 to 2023. San Nicolas was elected by his colleagues in the 116th United States Congress to serve as vice chair of the United States House Committee on Financial Services. Rather than run for reelection in 2022, San Nicolas ran and lost in the Democratic primary of the 2022 Guamanian gubernatorial election. From 2013 to 2019, San Nicolas served as senator in the 32nd, 33rd, and 34th Guam legislatures.

Rudolph Guerrero Sablan was a Guamanian politician and member of the Democratic Party of Guam. Sablan served as the 2nd Lieutenant Governor of Guam from January 6, 1975 to January 1, 1979 under Governor Ricardo Bordallo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 United States House of Representatives election in Guam</span>

The 2018 United States House of Representatives election in Guam was held on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, to elect the non-voting Delegate to the United States House of Representatives from Guam's at-large congressional district. The election coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including the larger 2018 Guamanian general election, the 2018 Guamanian gubernatorial election, and the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Guamanian general election</span>

A general election was held in Guam on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. Voters in Guam chose their governor, their non-voting delegate to the United States House of Representatives, attorney general, public auditor, as well as all fifteen members of the territorial legislature. The election coincides with the United States mid-term elections.

Doris Flores-Brooks is a Guamanian accountant, former bank executive and politician. Brooks is a former Republican senator in the Guam Legislature from 1989 to 1994. Brooks is known for being the first Chamorro to be a Certified Public Accountant. Brooks is also known for being Guam's first elected Public Auditor.

The Government of the U.S. State of Nebraska, established by the Nebraska Constitution, is a republican democracy modeled after the Federal Government of the United States. The state government has three branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. Through a system of separation of powers, or "checks and balances," each of these branches has some authority to act on its own, and also some authority to regulate the other two branches, so that all three branches can limit and balance the others' authority. The State Government is based in Lincoln, the capital city of Nebraska.

References

  1. 1 2 3 https://www.opaguam.org/about-us/public-auditor
  2. By law, the post of public auditor is strictly nonpartisan. No candidate for the office may declare a partisan affiliation, and if previously affiliated with a political party a candidate must renounce their membership. Moreover, no candidate for the office of public auditor may seek the endorsement of or receive financial or material support from a political party. Any violation of these requirements invalidates the candidacy of the affected individual for public auditor. See "§ 1903., Guam Code Annotated" (PDF). Guam Compiler of Laws. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  3. 1 2 "About OPA". Guam Office of Public Accountability (OPA). Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  4. "Ethics in Government Program". Guam Office of Public Accountability. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  5. "Hotline and Citizen Concerns". Guam Office of Public Accountability. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  6. "Board and Commission Meetings" . Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  7. Cagurangan, Mar-Vic (May 30, 2018). "Flores-Brooks quits OPA, eyes Congress seat". pacificislandtimes.com. Retrieved October 7, 2021.(archived)
  8. "Benjamin J.F. Cruz Sworn into Office as Guam's Public Auditor". Guam Office of Public Accountability (OPA). September 24, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2023.