There is a huge secret lurking in the capitol building in Helena. No, it has nothing to do with this election cycle, and there are no ghosts from the past.

What is it, you ask? I believe it is the Legislative Audit Division nestled in the west wing on the first floor of the building, quietly doing what they do best — audits!

It’s certainly not the flashiest of governmental entities though I would argue a vital one to the taxpayers. The Legislative Audit Committee is the only interim group mandated by the Montana Constitution so was recognized long ago as a necessary function of our government.

Today we appointed a new Legislative Auditor, Angus Maciver, to lead the division into the future after the retirement of Tori Hunthausen, a talented CPA and knowledgeable leader. Angus was previously a Deputy Legislative Auditor with oversight of the performance and information systems auditors.

The other side of audit is the fiscal division led by Cindy Jorgenson, the number crunchers with an outstanding record of rooting through volumes of data. They make sure our checks and balances are going in a positive direction for the billion plus dollar budget of state government.

Performance and financial auditors are the yin and yang of the office, performing separate but equally important functions to keep the audit committee and legislators aware of what’s happening in state agencies. This week we heard from both parts of the office as we looked at everything from the mess in OPI data collection to the clean report for the state’s financials, a big change from last year’s poor performance.

Angus will have his work cut out for him but does have a varied background and lots of energy. Graduating from the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom in political science and international relations set him on his present course.

His resume’ includes teaching middle school Japanese students to speak English while still carrying his Scottish accent a bit, helping manage a bar/restaurant, doing research and analysis of media coverage for the public and private sectors, along with working throughout his career with peer review assignments.

He will lead the department as we go into our 50th anniversary next year. The depth of talent in both financial and performance auditors will make the transition easier knowing that respect and knowledge are already in place.

Committee members would agree with this old Scottish saying:

Lang may yer lum reek. Translation: I wish you well for the future.

— Sen. Dee Brown, R-Coram