Griffin-Valade gets city auditor job earlier than expected

UPDATE • City Council approves measure giving her ‘interim’ title

The Portland Tribune, May 11, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

LAVONNE GRIFFIN-VALADE

Former Multnomah County Auditor LaVonne Griffin-Valade will get the job of Portland city auditor a few days earlier than a special election to fill the position.

Portland’s City Council approved Wednesday morning an ordinance appointing Griffin-Valade to the position on May 18, the day City Auditor Gary Blackmer resigns.

A special election to fill Blackmer’s position is May 19. Griffin-Valade is the only candidate on the ballot for the position, and the only one qualified under city rules to hold the auditor’s position.

So, city officials will appoint her auditor at 5:01 p.m. Monday, May 18, a minute after Blackmer’s resignation goes into effect. The appointment would be in effect until the May 19 election is certified, which could happen sometime around June 8. After that, if Griffin-Valade is elected (and no write-in candidate forces a July runoff), she could take the oath of office as auditor.

The reason for making Griffin-Valade the interim auditor is simple: The city charter provides little direction on how the auditor's duties would be handled if the position is vacant. Deputies in the office could take over some duties, but the auditor alone is responsible for things like signing all city checks to both employees and vendors. Without an auditor in office, it is unclear who would have authority, besides the mayor, to issue city checks, or supervise office staff handling those duties.

Griffin-Valade resigned March 2 as Multnomah County auditor to run for the Portland city auditor’s position. She worked in the county auditor’s office since 1998, starting as a senior auditor and serving as deputy auditor before being elected to the top position in May 2006.

Blackmer announced in mid-January that he would leave the city position May 18. He has been city auditor for 10 years and was in his third four-year term in the position. Previously, he served for eight years as Multnomah County auditor.

Blackmer has been named to head the secretary of state’s Audits Division in Salem.

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