LETTER | Minnehaha County Commissioners, county residents should be grateful for Auditor Anderson
I was saddened to see the hyper-political article Joe Kirby wrote about Leah Anderson that was printed in the Feb. 1, 2024, edition of The Dakota Scout.
For years, the Minnehaha County Commission has selected the auditor by appointing him or her before the election. Sadly, the people they selected had little, if any, accounting, auditing or election experience. Ben Kyte was a banker, and Bob Litz ran a construction company.
In 2022, the Minnehaha County voters decided they wanted someone experienced in the auditor position and elected Leah Anderson, an accountant with auditing experience and election training.
I find it odd that Mr. Kirby is insinuating that the voters are stupid because they elected someone qualified for the job, something the selectors had not been able to do.
I also find it strange that the Minnehaha County Commission is paying Ms. Anderson significantly less than Mr. Kyte, even though she has more experience. I find it exceptionally odd that they did not want to give her a pay raise.
Rather than make life difficult for her, it seems that the commission should be applauding her and paying her well. She is not only protecting the commissioners from legal liability by properly validating expenditures and vote tallying procedures, but is providing the taxpayers with transparency that has not been available for many years.
It is also perplexing that the commissioners are upset that Ms. Anderson asked the electronic tallying company for information on how to use the built-in audit capabilities that are available on the tallying machines. This seems like a very reasonable and prudent request.
If I was a commissioner, I would want to be sure Ms. Anderson had all the resources she needed to make sure the county finances are in order and the elections are properly run. I certainly wouldn’t be providing any resistance, since that would open me and the County Commission to a lot of liability.
I am hopeful that you and the other people making life difficult for Ms. Anderson are just resistant to change and will start recognizing how incredibly fortunate we are to have this highly capable woman as Minnehaha County Auditor.
Juliann Talkington
Sioux Falls
Suddenly it's OK to pay a woman less salary than the men who previously held her position because, you know, well, she's just asking too many questions.
Clear & well-said points. Thank you. No one likes being audited-except those who want to know how to improve or correct areas missed. TBH, I’m jealous of the detailed work in Mnha Co....Now if Lincoln County could have the same check-list, and no “drop box on wheels” with chain of custody questions and more, that’d be great.