COLUMBUS — Dave Yost insists he’s proven himself to be an independent state auditor willing to take on members of his own party when necessary.
He butted heads with Gov. John Kasich’s administration and angered fellow Republicans in the General Assembly when he insisted on auditing millions in state seed money used to get the nonprofit economic development entity JobsOhio up and running.
But he’s been blocked since by the legislature and has been criticized by his Democratic opponent, John Patrick Carney, for not turning to the courts to force the issue.
“It seemed to me to be obvious that it was public money, public function, and properly under review by the auditor’s office,” Mr. Yost said. “The legislature disagreed. The person who wants to enforce the law can’t disregard the law when it seems inconvenient.”
JobsOhio ended up returning the seed money it received from the state. The General Assembly passed a law to block the auditor from conducting future audits of the profits from the state-run liquor system, money that JobsOhio “leased” for a lump sum and then borrowed against.
“But for the state monopoly that created the liquor profits, there would have been no basis for the bond transaction to occur,” Mr. Yost said.
But he said he and his chief counsel, former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bob Cupp, agreed that he doesn’t have constitutional grounds to challenge the law blocking his path.
“He has totally capitulated on JobsOhio,” Mr. Carney said. “I think he wants credit for saying, ‘I took on the governor. Look at me. I’m beating my chest,’ and it’s the worst kind of politics to me. It’s trying to take credit for actually doing what your party wanted you to do instead of what you’re supposed to do based on what’s in the best interests of the taxpayers.”
Mr. Yost served as Delaware County prosecutor and auditor before begrudgingly running for state auditor in 2010.
He originally set his sights on attorney general but was urged by the Ohio Republican Party to clear the path for Mike DeWine.
He said he’s glad it worked out this way.
“My professional experience has really uniquely qualified me to be auditor of state,” he said. “This is the good fit for Dave Yost. I don’t see anything in [Mr. Carney’s] background that matches that other than his ambition and political talent.”
He said his office has identified more than $140 million in efficiency savings for state and local governments and has identified wrongdoing that has led to more than 80 criminal convictions, 22 of them involving charter school officials.
He said many of the functions Mr. Carney has proposed for the auditor’s office would duplicate efforts already done by other state agencies.
“He makes the assertion that every charter school needs an audit as though that doesn’t happen,” he said. “Every charter school gets an audit … They have to get an audit, and they all get an audit … We’ve 5,800 different entities that we audit that get some sort of public money … Charter schools are a relatively small chunk of that. More than half of all findings of recovery that I’ve issued are against charter schools.”
The major-party candidates face opposition from Libertarian Bob Bridges.
First Published October 5, 2014, 4:27 a.m.
