At the end of the working day and the end of the tension-filled fiscal year every entity has one thing in common that they must recognize as a potential area for audit work-infrastructure.

In local government, infrastructure makes up the bones and connective tissue that supports all the other functions. Different departments make up the vital organs and auditors, well, that's when the metaphor breaks down. I suppose auditors would be the hypothalamus, pituitary, or some other critical but unpopular regulatory organ.

We most often focus upon the financing of the infrastructure, specific components of the construction, or the procurement process because they are more manageable. These things are also more immediately understandable for the public. Above all, the public wants infrastructure to work. And as we have seen in the case of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis, levee failures in New Orleans, and decaying public transit systems in Chicago, Boston, and New York, this critical infrastructure affects the lives of citizens directly and profoundly. It is also quite expensive to build and maintain.

For these reasons, we have chosen Infrastructure as the theme for this issue. While not all of the articles from this issue focus on lessons learned from infrastructure audits we did have several submissions. Our reliable columnist Gary Blackmer leads off the articles with his Opportunities for Improvement that focuses on infrastructure issues followed by lessons learned from King County and Oklahoma City audits of their public works departments.

Our March issue will highlight ALGA's 20^th Anniversary which will be commemorated at the 2008 Annual Conference in Philadelphia.

Doug Whitworth
LGAQ Editor