It is the end of an era. If you check the masthead, you will notice that things have changed a bit at the old LGAQ. A new editor, Doug Jenkins, Deputy Director of Audits for Milwaukee County, has taken the helm. My run as editor, which began with Volume 4, Number 1 in August 1990 has come to a close. It is a sign of the strength and stability of our young professional organization that I am only the second editor of our publication.
The first editor of the Local Government Auditor's Newsletter, which predates ALGA and was instrumental in its founding, was the inestimable Rol Malan. Rol, a pioneer of performance auditing and now Auditor General of the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority, left big shoes to fill. It was not without trepidation that I stepped into those shoes, and to tell the truth I probably would not have done so without the urging of my Deputy City Auditor, Leslie Ward. There were more than a few times I regretted that decision, but on the whole it has been a very good thing for me - and I hope for ALGA - and I am glad I did it.
It is the end of an era for the organization as well. Rol was editor before ALGA existed and helped bring it to life. I have been editor during the infancy of the organization. I have watched ALGA and local government auditing grow together. ALGA is a mature and thriving organization that has become, as we envisioned, a major force in the development of performance auditing and in the strengthening of the local government audit function. I have seen the number of different audit organizations represented in the audit abstract section and quality of the audits those abstracts represent grow substantially. The Winter 1987 issue had 11 abstracts and six of those were from the Milwaukee County Department of Audit. Now we have dozens of audit organizations submitting abstracts. And while I have no objective measure of quality, it is this one man's opinion that the audits are often much stronger also. At one time I prided myself on knowing virtually all the major players in local government auditing. Now that is not possible. I stay very active I think, but frequently I will read an abstract of an excellent audit and look at the contact information and see a name, and even sometimes an audit organization, that I do not know. There are very strong local government audit organizations, the Seattle City Auditor's Office comes to mind, that did not even exist when I started editing this publication.
Now was a good time for me to step down as editor. Based on his work on the Editorial Board, I have a great deal of confidence in Doug Jenkins. And Jerry Heer has assured me that the Milwaukee County Department of Audit will give him the support he needs to meet the responsibilities of getting the issues published on schedule. My principle concern has always been that the publication continue, and, that concern having been met, I look forward to watching the Quarterly grow and change under Doug's leadership. I am also looking forward to contributing to the Quarterly in a new capacity. Doug asked me to continue to write a column and I jumped at the chance. I appreciate the opportunity that it gives me to develop and clarify ideas about auditing and share them with an influential audience. Together we will all create the next era of building and strengthening local government auditing.
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Funkhouser on Auditing