MARLBORO — The position of state auditor has to do with dollars and numbers. CPA Doug Hoffer, a Democrat/Progressive, has the credentials and the track record to do a superb job.
Hoffer's Republican opponent, a maverick from up north, has been a 32-year state assemblyman and sometime lawyer. When he approached me at the Vermont Expo this summer, I assumed that he would run to succeed the incumbent attorney general.
That turned out not to be the case. Already, there are complaints about his criticism of Vermont State Police overtime and of his own campaign finance accounting. These are numbers matters, which is what the auditor job is all about, and for which his qualifications appear to be slim.
Hoffer is committed to accountable state expenses, better and more efficient use of state resources, and greater transparency in the job of state auditor. His investigative work on the Vermont job gap is legend. At a critical time in our Vermont life, he is probably the most experienced economic development authority in the state.
This election gives all of us a chance to elect a man who is fit for the job. Doug Hoffer deserves to be our new state auditor.