Stefan Mychajliw for Erie County Comptroller -What qualifies someone for comptroller?

[WNYresident]

http://occompt.com/index.php?option=...=25&Itemid=210

About The Orange County Comptroller

County Comptroller Martha Haynie

County Comptroller Martha Haynie serves Orange County citizens as their independent watchdog, as she has since taking office in January 1989. During her tenure, Haynie’s office has saved tens of millions of dollars through her oversight of county spending, careful monitoring of the county’s investments, and audits of county operations. Haynie makes serving the citizens her top priority, focusing on quality service and striving to make information easily available to the public.

Comptroller Haynie is active in civic and professional organizations. In 1998 she was named the Outstanding CPA in Government by the Florida Association of CPAs; the University of West Florida gave her its Outstanding Alumnus Award in 2008; and she received the Summit Award from the Women’s Resource Center in 2009.

Martha graduated with honors from the University of West Florida with a degree in accounting, and is a Florida Certified Public Accountant.

[WNYresident]

http://www.co.middlesex.nj.us/comptroller/index.asp#

Albert P. Kuchinskas, a Certified Public Accountant and Certified County Finance Officer of the State of New Jersey is the Middlesex County Comptroller. He is also the County's Chief Financial Officer and Budget Director.

The primary mission of the office of the County Comptroller is to maintain the general books of accounts to assure the Board of Chosen Freeholders that funds are expended within budgetary limits and in accordance with the County's Uniform Claim Procedure, and to report to the Board the results of operations. In meeting this objective, an integrated on line Financial Management Information System has been installed from which all financial reports, including the budget documents are prepared.

[WNYresident]

http://www.co.ulster.ny.us/comptroller/index.html

Meet the Comptroller

Elliott Auerbach has established the Office of Comptroller to serve as an advocate on behalf of the people of Ulster County and act as their independent fiscal watch dog. Elected to the position in 2008 and re-elected to a second term in 2010, Elliott brings the strength of his private and public sector background to the office. He has insisted upon “best practices” to ensure an efficient government that is responsive to the needs of its citizens by taking on the tough issues of fraud and abuse of taxpayers’ dollars.

He is a former three-term Ellenville Mayor and Executive Director of the Rural Economic Area Partnership during the Clinton Administration. Auerbach managed a closely-held family company for twenty years and enjoyed a series of successes in corporate America and private industry before returning to public service as Ellenville’s Village Manager and chief operating officer in 2002.

In addition, Auerbach served the people of Ulster County as Assistant Chairman and Assistant Secretary of the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency and as Secretary of the Ulster County Chamber of Commerce.

Elliott grew up in Ellenville and attended Ellenville High School. He is a graduate of Hofstra University with a degree in Economics-Business, has pursued graduate studies at Long Island University and SUNY New Paltz. He chose to return to Ulster County to “bloom where he was planted”.

[WNYresident]

http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeek...&IPath=QHKCV0D

Deputy Comptroller
City of Binghamton

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Either:



(A) Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, business or public administration, economics or a closely related field, including or supplemented by 18 semester credit hours in accounting, and four years of Municipal Finance Management experience including supervisory and managerial.

OR



(B) Seven years of progressive experience working in the Finance Department of a governmental agency with at least four years of administrative/supervisory experience in the operation of a Finance Office.

OR



(C) An equivalent combination of education and experience as defined by the limits of (A) and (B). Comparable private sector experience may be substituted for governmental experience.

The City of Binghamton is an equal employment opportunity employer. All new hires are required to pass a pre-employment drug test as a condition of employment and City residency is required.

[wnyerlaughs]

Res & WNYLaugh:
My point is that you're both hypocritical when it comes to experience as long as it suits your ideology. Scott Walker had no business being elected to anything, not even dog catcher; that is according to your qualification models. I have no beef with Scott Walker, he was elected by the populous.

I'm personally against so-called qualifications when it comes to civic offices, it's a position for the people by the people, not exclusive to the upper echelon of our society. I do not wish to have an oligarchical form of government. >>

I have no idea why you'd be attacking me on SW. you asked what his qualifications were for gov. I was curious also, so i loked it up and cut it and pasted for board benefit. It looks like he paid his dues, had some private sector experience but not a lot, then went into pub service, won some elected offices. to brorow a recent phrase froom Bill Cliniton, it wold seem that SW's expereinces in other elected offices do "coross the threshold" as qualifications for the gof offie he soght. as an 8 yr county Exec, i am presuming he was re-elected for doing a good job..and thet he was not elected to an 8 yr term.

as you said, he was elected by the consent of the majority of the people there, for reasons not unique to wisconsin.

do i agree with his idealogy? id say yes, very much so. But my agreeing with his idealogy doesn't disqualify HIS credentials for high level public office.

it doesn't appear that SW wsa from the higher echelon of society.

and also..keep in mind, our founding fathers DID desire to have successful private sector people in offfice. The ydesired for the successful to walk away from their livelihood for a bit, and devote their expertise--and successfull traits-- to public service for a few years, then go back to the farm, literally and figuratively.

what kind of leader do you want?. the kid that never accomplishes anything, the c student who wasnt involved in any sports or school activities?.. or do you prefer someoen who is a high achiever..a good leader.? someone who caqn instill confidence (not jus tthe APPEARANCE of confidence) i nthose around him? I mean that in general terms of course.

the buck private doesn't become president...its the buck private who rises through the ranks of whatver organiztion hes/she is in..and the helm of a leadership role becomes inevitable because of the character of the person.

[WNYresident]

I wonder if Chris Collins is going to make a statement about Stephan for comptroller.. he is a successful business man whether you like him or not. Would he hire Stephan to be his companies comptroller?...

Another respected business man in our community is Carl Paladino... Anyone know his opinion on this? I wonder if he would hire Stephan to be his comptroller for all his holdings....

[granpabob]

what are the qualifications it is simple. enough signatures to get on the ballet, then enough votes to win the election. thats it the voters will get who ever they vote for.
if they do not get in on the nomination progress then they get to choose between the two or three chosen by the people who cared enough to get involved picked

[wolfpack]

Comptroller is not required to be the CPA from a regional firm. He or she does not have to even have an accounting degree. The person needs to be a political leader who accomplishes the mission of the post. In Erie County that post is a critical separation of powers one who needs to be independent and work with the other branches for the good of the county taxpayers. The qualifications in civil service include jobs that require 24 hours in accounting to take tests. There have always been two or more CPAs there and experienced government accounting/auditing personnel. Deputies should have more specific experience. The Comptroller's background should reflect business education, and could include an advanced degree, and use their supervisory employees to their advantage. The issues could be strictly financial (annual reports/audits/accounting/payables/bonds) but also any issues for the county as a whole. A well rounded individual can accomplish this with combinations of talents and people. It has not been unusual to have lawyers in this position. The only CPA in a comptroller position was George O'Connell at the City of Buffalo back in the 60's.

[WNYresident]

Comptroller is not required to be the CPA from a regional firm. He or she does not have to even have an accounting degree. The person needs to be a political leader who accomplishes the mission of the post.

Ever think this is one reason why WNY is in the predicament it is in? A community where businesses are leaving and our community is losing population according the the last census. Our political parties put forth empty suits.

What I think wny needs would be people based on their track record, qualifications and experience instead of name recognition.

Think about what I just said and I think that is why they picked Stefan. That is not a shot at Stefan.

People refer to themselves as business men in the republican party.

First question is would you hire someone based on their qualifications for a "comptroller" position or how many friends they have?

I heard that Carl Paladino may put his support behind Stefan. Would Carl hire stefan to be the "comptroller" of his company? If not then why would he put his support behind him? This goes for Chris Collins and the rest of the crew.... This is not a shot at Stefan, I'm just being realistic.

If these "business men" really want to "help" our community for the better why don't they step it up a notch?

Do a signing bonus idea.

Therising stated who would do that job for 100,000 grand. I think it pays about $86,000 + expensive health care package + unrealistic pension contributions so it's easily $100,000+

Get 25 business people and have them chip in $5000 each. That would be $125,000. Give the $125,000 to a person with real qualifications that would step up to the plate for the position. Work as a group to get him/her elected and if they get the seat give then the $125,000 to make it worth the time and effort. That would be an extra $31,250 a year on top of what we pay for that position. Think out of the box for a change.

That would be over a 1/2 a million dollars for 4 years work.

[WNYresident]

Wolfpack....

If you have time would you review this page.



Fixing Fiscal Problems and Planning for the Future: A CPA’s Role in Government

http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/20...nfocus/p18.htm

Highlights..

Financial Responsibility

CPAJ: For those who may not be familiar with the responsibilities of the Nassau County Comptroller, tell us briefly about your position and which government agencies fall within your jurisdiction.

Weitzman: The Comptroller is considered the financial watchdog for Nassau County, and the position reports directly to the taxpayers. As an elected official, I don’t report to the Nassau County Executive or to the Nassau Legislature. I provide financial oversight for the county’s $2.5 billion budget.

The responsibility for preparing and implementing the budget fall within the jurisdiction of the County Executive and the legislature. The Office of the Nassau County Comptroller is responsible for the audit of any government agency that receives Nassau County funding. In addition, we review all Nassau County government payrolls before they are issued. We have an online interactive payroll system, as most governments have, but all adjustments are reviewed before the payrolls are actually processed. My office has 15 auditors who check the adjustments that are made to the payroll for vacation or sick time or other paid time off.

Go read the rest of the response


And this was interesting...

CPAJ: Thank you for your time today. Is there anything else you’d like to address?

Weitzman: I would like to emphasize again the point that it is beneficial to society to bring CPAs into elected office. I understand the sacrifice involved, and it is a sacrifice. That’s why I don’t recommend it for young CPAs, although I think it can be very helpful for young CPAs to go into government work—not elected office, but appointed government work. But I think we can use more gray-haired CPAs in elected office. I think they bring an understanding to the issues that you just don’t typically get among elected officials, and as a result, taxpayers benefit.

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