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Staff shortage hobbles OPA’s performance
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Posted on Nov 26 2008
The Office of the Public Auditor is facing a staff shortage that undermines its ability to evaluate the use of the Commonwealth’s public resources.
According to Public Auditor Mike Pai, plans are underway to hire more staff to help the agency keep up with its basic duties, as well as the work it has been asked to do by the Legislature and other agencies.
Currently, OPA only has one audit manager overseeing the audits. The agency is also down to six analysts—from nine previously—doing the audits, performance evaluations, and other related work.
Meanwhile, OPA’s work continues to expand. In addition to audits and investigations, OPA also monitors financial disclosures and writes decisions on appeal for all procurement protests except for two autonomous agencies.
Only this month, the House of Representatives adopted two resolutions asking OPA to perform a closeout audit of the CNMI Office of the Resident Representative to Washington, D.C. and an economic impact study of the Commonwealth Development Authority’s qualifying certificate program.
Pai said he met with the lawmakers on Tuesday to clarify the request for an economic impact study. During the meeting, the lawmakers agreed to have OPA conduct only a performance audit and gather information that may help an economist to determine the actual economic impact of the program.
“The Legislature realizes that we’re short-staffed and we’re working with them to figure out when we can do the audits,” Pai said.
