Susan Combs Preparing For Comptroller’s Job…By Hanging Out In The State Auditor’s Office
Given that no Democrats won at the statewide level on Election Day, it’s easy to forget that—at least in one state office—there will be a transfer of power.
So, what does someone whose only qualifications to serve as Comptroller are having banned junkfood from schools and having strong Republican credentials (aside from that steamy romance novel) do to prepare to be Texas’ Comptroller of Public Accounts?
She takes her laptop and cell phone into an old breakroom in the State Auditor’s Office and hangs out for a month looking busy.
Oh, but…we kid! Well, we really don’t. That’s actually what Combs is doing. But as for just looking busy, she’ll probably actually be busy (Hey! Wait a minute! We’re spending too much money on paper clips according to this spreadsheet! Do a study! Quick! Oh, wait…never mind. That’s the budget for the Texas Legislative Council. My bad!) .
Yep. John Keel is letting her hang out in his office. (John Keel is, by the way, the cousin of Terry Keel, the soon-to-be-ex-State Representative of the same last name).
Is this too cozy of a relationship? Consider that the auditor’s office audits the Comptroller’s office every year, and that sometimes the Comptroller’s office audits the auditor. When they’re not busy auditing each other, they work together on financial reporting, auditing (what else?) and the state’s annual financial statement.
The ongoing close working relationship between the two offices is why Keel says he offered her the space. And both parties say their independence remains uncompromised:
“The independence issue, the audit standards, the judgment — I don’t believe any of those are affected by the temporary use of a conference room that was available,” Keel said.
Keel said he did not make the space available until after Combs, now the agriculture commissioner, won the comptroller’s job.
Said Combs, “If somebody thinks using a conference room with no equipment is going to bend my judgment, they’re absolutely wrong.”
Meanwile, over at Agriculture (or, as they say in East Texas, Aggekulture), Todd Staples is borrowing a conference room, too. Word is he’s trying to figure out what “Agriculture” is and recently asked the staff what the difference was between a cow, a horse, and a pig (and why you could only ride the horse).
/Snark.
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