TMCnet News
Idaho state treasurer's transactions under scrutiny [The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.](Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 18--BOISE -- Deborah Silver, the Twin Falls accountant who's challenging four-term Idaho Treasurer Ron Crane, is calling on Crane to release a full review of questioned investment transactions. "What else does he have to hide?" Silver asked. "Idaho taxpayers deserve the truth from their state treasurer." Crane maintains he's released all the information he can. But the Idaho state auditor's office, in an audit report released in June, said it still hadn't received documentation showing that Crane's office has reviewed all potentially problematic investments he made. That auditing report was triggered after an earlier audit found that a state investment pool lost millions when Crane's office moved assets between a state investment pool and a local government investment pool. Laura Steffler, Crane's chief deputy, wrote in the office's official response submitted for that report that the office had conducted a full review as directed, and already had provided all the documentation. But the auditors said they'd received documentation on just two transactions and no evidence of a full review."Short of just saying we did it, I don't know how else we can prove ... that we did it," said Ken Burgess, spokesman for Crane's re-election campaign. He said Crane's office offered the auditors access to the full documentation for every one of the tens of thousands of transactions since 2008, and the auditors declined that offer. Silver, a Democrat, has made her nearly three decades of experience as a CPA a central issue in her challenge to Crane, Idaho's four-term treasurer. He has a two-year degree from a Bible missionary institute and maintains he's developed expertise and a track record in his 16 years in the office, which oversees the investment of state funds. Recent audit reports have been critical of Crane's management of state funds, however, suggesting that Crane made an inappropriate transfer between two funds that cost taxpayers more than $10 million. Crane vigorously disputes the audit finding, contending his office did nothing wrong and made reasonable decisions based on what it knew at the time. April Renfro, director of the state auditor's office, said auditors were not given records from the treasurer's office such as reconciliations of monthly statements between the two pools that would show if allocations were moved. "That's the kind of documentation we would expect to see if they'd done a full review," she said. Late last week, Silver filed a public records request for account statements and directives to move securities from one investment pool to another between July 1, 2008, and June 30, 2010. Late Monday, she received a series of documents she's now reviewing. "We decided if he wasn't going to reply to the auditor, let's see if I can do this," Silver said. "If you had statements that show the balances don't change, that would be end of story. But why not just provide those?" Burgess said Crane didn't hesitate to fulfill her request. "In general, everything Ron does is public record," he said. ___ (c)2014 The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.) Visit The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.) at www.spokesman.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |