Show Him The Money

New Denver Auditor Tim O’Brien: Small Steps, Big Changes

Although the objectives are the same, Denver’s new auditor runs the office a little differently than his well-known, colorful predecessor.

“I am not a career politician,” Tim O’Brien said in an exclusive with Greater Park Hill News. “I am delighted and honored that voters put me here, but that doesn’t make politics my career. There’s really very little change following Dennis Gallagher, and the office is doing the things that need to be done.”

O’Brien, a registered Certified Public Accountant, was elected to the city office last year after a dozen years as state auditor. Gallagher was term-limited and left office after several decades in many elected positions. O’Brien defeated former Denver City Councilman Chris Nevitt to replace Gallagher.

The auditor’s position is sometimes seen as a stepping-stone to the mayor’s office, but O’Brien quickly dismisses any such ambition.

“The auditor needs to be a professional, and voters agreed with my message. I think we can prove why it is important to have a CPA in the office, and I’d like to see a city charter change to require a CPA qualification.”

O’Brien says he intends to run for a second term, so his yard signs can likely be retained and re-used.

I-70 and low wages

The newly-elected auditor faced one important immediate challenge right after taking office, when he was required to approve the agreement of cooperation between the city and the Colorado Department of Transportation to move forward with rebuilding Interstate 70 in north Denver.

“There really is no alternative (to lowering the now elevated highway),” says O’Brien. “Adams County is not willing accept the re-route proposal (to move the highway farther north).”

Before leaving office, Gallagher described rebuilding I-70 as a “massive boondoggle.”

O’Brien has also been visible for his active efforts to enforce Denver’s prevailing wage law. He paid for color newspaper ads earlier this year to find workers who should have been paid more than there were on city projects. More recently, his office identified 53 workers entitled to share $550,000 in back pay for work at Denver International Airport.

“It’s the auditor’s job to let voters know how government operates and how tax dollars are being spent,” says O’Brien. “I want this office to be in closer contact with voters so they can see we are meeting our obligations.”

In his most recent audit, O’Brien found that Denver Parks and Recreation had not officially adopted a 2009 draft policy for officially designating parkland. The determination is part of a review of capital asset reporting procedures.

“We recommended formal adoption of such a policy to diminish uncertainty about protecting this vital public asset,” O’Brien says. Now, Deputy Parks Director Scott Gilmore says policy acceptance is in process.

The lifeblood of government

Observers often describe O’Brien as thoughtful, methodical, sincere, thorough, and willing to listen. In person, he seems to embody those attributes. Unlike many elected and appointed officials, O’Brien sits for an interview without a communications consultant in the room.

“One thing we will do is make better use of e-mail,” says O’Brien. “Taxpayers can e-mail my office and we will read and respond to the messages. That doesn’t mean we are making a commitment to audit everything that comes up, but we will be watching citizen concerns in deciding what to audit.”

O’Brien sees the auditor as part of the executive branch of government, but in a hybrid arrangement where, instead of making decisions at the start, he determines the effectiveness of the decisions that are made by the mayor and council.

“I absolutely get along with Mayor (Michael B.) Hancock and the City Council,” O’Brien emphasizes. “I think taxpayers expect cooperation. But I may not always see eye to eye with other officials, and getting along does not mean giving in.”

The auditor is supposed to point out if policy and practice are aligned so tax dollars are being properly spent. He describes tax money as “the lifeblood” of government and says it is up to the auditor to determine when things are working – and when they are not.

“If we see something that is out of line, we can raise our hand,” O’Brien says. “We’ll make recommendations and we have a follow-up process to see if there is effective change.”

In the case of cost over-runs with the construction of the hotel at DIA, O’Brien concedes an audit didn’t make much difference at the time, but the evaluation is still in process so results are hard to determine. He adds that the hotel and transit center are moving from construction to fixed asset status and there are slightly different auditing procedures for fixed assets.

Credit to staff

O’Brien also says the best audits are the most boring.

“You really want an audit to show that a government process is working the way it should,” he observes. “When an audit shows no problems, government money is being spent most effectively.”

O’Brien presides over a 6-member audit committee, which meets on third Thursday each month. Members are appointed to 4-year terms by the auditor, mayor, and council.

Now settled into the office, O’Brien says he is trying to look methodically at little things he can do to make big changes. He gives a lot of credit to his staff, saying the effectiveness of the office depends on the quality of the people.

After he was elected, he brought in Jeff Garcia as his attorney, Valerie Walling as deputy auditor, Julie Connor as outreach coordinator and, and former city councilwoman Kathleen MacKenzie as his communications director, “because they are damn good at what they do,” says O’Brien.

“I’m proud of identifying good people to work for me. The state government recruited out of my office as auditor because there were highly qualified people there. We still have some open city career service positions.”

Earlier this year, O’Brien conducted an informal, unscientific online poll that shows citizens don’t believe there is openness in government. While declaring that auditing can make a big difference in the government effectiveness, O’Brien says he wants people to realize why Denver deserves a professional auditor.

He encourages people to contact his office at auditor@denvergov.org.

Dave Felice is an At-Large Board Member of Greater Park Hill Community Inc. He is a member of National Writers Union, Local 1981, and recipient of a 2015 award from the Society of Professional Journalists for news column writing. He can be contacted at gelato321@aol.com.