COLFAX - Any way it is sliced, Whitman County has had a rough year, financially speaking.
Inadequate financial controls and reporting led to the sacking of most of its finance department in June. That led to a power struggle between the auditor's office and the county commissioners over which entity should take the lead on financial issues.
The fallout exposed personal conflicts, deep fractures among county departments, communication breakdowns, myriad mismanaged finances and even one case of alleged computer spying.
Now, two candidates - incumbent Eunice Coker and challenger Esther Wilson - are vying for control of the auditor's office. Both said they are the person to clean up at least that portion of Whitman County's financial house.
Coker is seeking her third term. She said the county was in even worse financial shape when she first took office, and she is well on her way toward fixing the mistakes of the past.
"We were in danger of being turned over to a collection agency," Coker said of her entry into the auditor's office.
Coker has since led successful updates to the county voter registration system, the transition to vote-by-mail, the creation and maintenance of election websites and an online voter's pamphlet, she said.
"It's just been leaps and bounds of improvements in the auditor's office," Coker said. "And this year we have the opportunity to get the county as a whole under its proper separation of duties and checks and balances."
Wilson, the sole surviving member of the finance department, said she and Coker share a mutual personal respect. But she said Coker has no financial training other than what she has received on the job in the county treasurer's and auditor's offices.
"My work experience is that the auditor's office lacks a sufficient financial background to perform their tasks adequately," Wilson said.
She touted her accounting experience since 1977 in both the private and pubic sectors, and said she is familiar with common accounting methods.
Wilson pointed to other areas where she's seen issues, including an election where Oakesdale voters had problems getting their ballots and a school levy amount was incorrect on another ballot.
Coker countered the Oakesdale issue wasn't the fault of the auditor's office, and was due to a lack of communication with town officials. And she said the two county commissioner's who are in Wilson's corner - Greg Partch and Pat O'Neill - have spoon-fed Wilson points on which to attack Coker.
The third commissioner, Michael Largent, has widely been viewed as supporting Coker, but Wilson said they have repaired their relationship recently.
Wilson also denied wrongdoing in an incident where Largent sent an anonymous survey to county employees that asked for opinions on county leadership. Wilson used her information technology experience to track the origin of the survey back to Largent.
Both Largent and Wilson were cleared of violating county regulations, but Wilson was accused by some of illegally accessing Largent's private e-mail account.
"I did not break the law," Wilson said. "I did nothing wrong, and I feel like my opponent has used versions of the truth to erroneously misrepresent me."
Wilson also said she did not want to run for office, but felt compelled to when no one else filed to challenge Coker.
"As a taxpayer, I want to see a financial person in the auditor's office," she said. "We do not currently have that."
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Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com or (208) 883-0564.
Name: Esther Wilson
Office sought: Whitman County auditor
Age: 49
Occupation: Whitman County systems administrator/financial operations
Education: High school, 2½ years college
How long in area: six years
Family: Single, two children
Elected positions: none
Website: www.wilsonforauditor.com
Name: Eunice Coker
Office sought: Whitman County auditor
Age: 53
Occupation: Whitman County auditor
Education: Colfax High School graduate
How long in area: 53 years
Family: Married, two children, one stepchild
Elected positions: Auditor, two terms
Website: eunicecoker@hotmail.com
