{"id":2234,"date":"2007-09-13T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-09-13T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/09\/former-county-auditor-wants-schoonovers-job\/"},"modified":"2007-09-13T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2007-09-13T12:00:00","slug":"former-county-auditor-wants-schoonovers-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/09\/former-county-auditor-wants-schoonovers-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Former county auditor wants Schoonover’s job"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>As the county\u2019s internal auditor, Jill Johnson conducted the investigation that led the Do\u00f1a Ana County Board of Commissioners to formally censure<\/a> Treasurer Jim Schoonover<\/a> earlier this year. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Johnson left the position this summer. That\u2019s because she wants Schoonover\u2019s job, which is up for grabs in November 2008.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the things that went on, I did learn a lot about the treasurer\u2019s office,\u201d Johnson said in a recent interview. \u201c\u2026 I think I can do a better job.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Schoonover and his deputy, Jerry Wheeler, were censured on Feb. 5 for a laundry list of complaints that included misusing county staffers and equipment to benefit the Elks Lodge. The commission also demanded that Schoonover reimburse the county $1,500 for work that was done for the Elks Lodge at taxpayer expense.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The censure also resulted from complaints that Schoonover failed to cooperate and provide information to Johnson for her investigation in violation of state law, that he failed to comply with state law governing the investment of public money and the county\u2019s investment policy, and that he failed to provide documents and other materials for inspection that he is required by the commission to keep ready at all times.<\/p>\n

You can read Johnson\u2019s report that led to the censure by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Though it wasn\u2019t one of the reasons for the censure, Schoonover also came under fire last year after county Attorney John Caldwell accused him of a felony crime for purchasing 2,300 pencils that resembled his campaign materials with $700 in public money. Schoonover later reimbursed the county for the cost.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Johnson, a Democrat, is already organizing a campaign to try to take the place of the Republican incumbent. She has the benefit of being retired and having a great deal of time to devote to the campaign.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Schoonover declined to say whether he plans to seek re-election, saying he is \u201cjust trying to concentrate on initiatives.\u201d In response to Johnson\u2019s candidacy, he said, \u201cI guess that anybody who\u2019s a registered voter can run.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The history<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Johnson moved to Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> in December 2004, shortly after Schoonover was elected. She said she originally had no intention of \u201cworking a real job\u201d but heard that Schoonover was looking for a deputy treasurer. Thinking the job would be interesting, she applied, but Schoonover instead selected Wheeler.<\/p>\n

Months later, the county posted the internal auditor job. Johnson said she thought it would be \u201cexciting\u201d to learn about how government works, so she applied and became the county\u2019s first in-house auditor. After being almost immediately thrust into the Schoonover pencil situation, Johnson spent much of her tenure focusing her eyes on the business of the treasurer\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

There is certainly no love lost between Schoonover and Johnson. Schoonover has had to reimburse the county a total of $2,200 for the pencils and Elks Lodge work as a result of the investigations by Johnson and Caldwell.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Both have been openly frustrated with the situation and each other. Johnson appeared visibly angry when she first presented the case against Schoonover to the commission in January. For his part, Schoonover refused to answer any questions and sat silent during the February meeting, at times hunched over, while his attorney argued with the commission and Caldwell.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

When it became clear she was going to run for the treasurer\u2019s office, Johnson said she knew she had to resign from the auditor job to avoid the appearance that she was using it for personal reasons.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\n

\n

Making changes<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Johnson, a retired accountant and auditor who worked for an industrial company in San Diego<\/st1:city>, has a bachelor\u2019s degree in accounting from San Diego<\/st1:placename> State<\/st1:placetype> University<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>. She said that experience, coupled with her experience in the county job, would lead her to make a number of changes in the treasurer\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

She said she would better educate commissioners, who also act as the county\u2019s Board of Finance. She said they share some of the blame for a controversy that erupted last year when Schoonover convinced them to change the county\u2019s investment policy to allow him to invest all money in large, national banks instead of putting some in local banks.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

She said commissioners didn\u2019t take the time to understand the proposal before they approved it.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Johnson also said she would be \u201cproactive,\u201d would try to anticipate problems and would \u201ctake responsibility for mistakes.\u201d She said she would cooperate and be open with other county departments, something Schoonover has been accused of not doing. Johnson said Schoonover\u2019s unwillingness to share information with other county departments has led to \u201ca waste of taxpayer money\u201d because the other departments had to duplicate work Schoonover\u2019s office had already done.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Johnson also said she would invest money in local banks to help the area\u2019s economy. She would review internal controls in the treasurer\u2019s office to increase effectiveness and efficiency and establish new procedures so future treasurers \u201cdon\u2019t have the struggles that I know I\u2019m going to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m elected I will make changes, and I will be in the office to make those changes,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the county\u2019s internal auditor, Jill Johnson conducted the investigation that led the Do\u00f1a Ana County Board of Commissioners to formally censure Treasurer Jim Schoonover earlier this year. Johnson left the position this summer. That\u2019s because she wants Schoonover\u2019s job, which is up for grabs in November 2008. \u201cBecause of the things that went on, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2234\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}