Chris Thomas and Joe MacLean have similar ideas about how the Grays Harbor County Auditor’s office should be run.
Both men recognize the tremendous importance of the office, from elections, to recording documents, to licensing and more. They both are interested in improving the services the office provides. They both would prefer the office be nonpartisan.
Chris Thomas is the current auditor and is listed on the ballot as preferring the Democratic party. County commissioners appointed him to the position a little more than a year ago after longtime Auditor Vern Spatz retired. He is a former Montesano City Council member and sits on the Montesano School Board. He served in various functions during a 17-year career with the state Employment Security Department, including as an economic analyst.
Joe MacLean worked in the Okanogan County Auditor’s Office for seven and a half years. About five years ago, he was recruited to the state Secretary of State’s Office, where he trains election administrators and county auditors. He is the current head of the Grays Harbor County Republican Party.
Both candidates have experience improving the processes of elections.
MacLean helped improve the way the state processes initiative submissions.
“I implemented a new digital system at the Secretary of State’s Office, which reduced costs dramatically for processing initiative petitions,” he said. “We do not use the paper copies anymore. We use a digital image. It also reduced the amount of time it takes to process an initiative. It used to be that if we had three initiatives, it would take five to six weeks (of 16-hour work days) to process. The last three initiatives we got, we processed in a week and a half (of 12-hour work days).”
Thomas cites improvements to both tabulation, or counting, of votes and technology in the Auditor’s Office among his improvements over the past year.
“We had an out-of-date tabulation software system, with staff, we instituted an upgrade to that system and it’s improved tabulation time and transparency,” he said. “There is a disability voter unit, which also came with this system, which is much of an improvement. It is in the Auditor’s Office. An individual can come in and use it. We were able to do that at $100,000 off the price because of some work that was done by the staff before I was there.”
Both candidates say they believe the office should not be affiliated with a political party.
“This could be an office like the judges where it could be nonpartisan,” Thomas said. “As long as the checks and balances and accountability are all maintained. I know that voter issues are very critical. And each party takes a different perspective of it. It could be treated like a judge (race). …
“I approach the office not through a party lens, but through a lens of maintaining the institution. I look on it as one of our fundamental American values. and that the process needs to be maintained above the parties. It wasn’t my party affiliation that got me to be interested in the auditor position. I spent a year looking into it, researching it when it came up. It was being involved in the elections and the different facets of the office that attracted me.”
For MacLean, it’s more about writing laws.
“The feeling that I have is that it should be a nonpartisan office. And the reason that I say that is the Auditor’s Office, along with the clerk, the assessor, the treasurer, have no legislative authority,” he said. “And usually a partisan office has legislative authority. I have a track record previous to my running for office, of working in elections and being nonpartisan, working with both parties.”
A frequent criticism of the Auditor’s Office by MacLean is that it closes at lunch times, which is inconvenient for some people, and that at times the front counter isn’t staffed when there’s no one to cover.
“I want to guarantee that the hours are going to be open (specifically over the lunch hour),” he said. “I want to provide better customer service. I want to cross train everybody in the office.”
MacLean says his Okanagan County experience makes him familiar with the multiple functions and he would be a “working” auditor who could work at the front desk when needed.
Thomas said those improvements are coming.
“I’ve gone up and worked the front counter; I’ve gone into each department and assisted where I can,” he said. “In my first year, I’ve done a lot. But my primary focus has been on significant changes. I’ve instituted weekly meetings with staff. Instituting the new software, doing upgrades in recording, putting up drop boxes. The working auditor is a good thing. But during my first year, my focus has been on those other items that bring value and efficiency to the office. They’re all very doable things. I’m not sure why they weren’t done in the past, but there’s a lot we can do to improve the office.”
Finances
MacLean has committed to raising less than $5,000 for his campaign, so he is not required by law to submit extensive financial paperwork to the state Public Disclosure Commission. In an email, he said he has $4,935.28 in debits, $1,670 in credits and has added 3,265.28 of his own money. He’s left with about $300 on hand.
As of an Oct. 15 C-4 report with PDC, Thomas had raised more than $7,400 for his campaign while spending more than $7,000.
