NORTH DAKOTA (KXNET) — State auditor candidate Tim Lamb (D) joined Nicholas Quallich for episode 29 of The Voice of the People podcast. Lamb talked about why he's running for auditor, his number one priority if elected, what he learned from his run for state attorney general, and more. Here is a transcript of the podcast. Nicholas Quallich: Thanks for watching the Voice of the People podcast here on KXNET.com. I'm Nicholas Quallich and today we're focusing on the race for state auditor. Joining me now is a candidate for that office and that's Tim Lamb. Tim, thanks for being here. Tim Lamb: Thanks for having me, Nicholas. I appreciate it. Quallich: Certainly. So for those of our viewers who may have not got a chance to meet you in person or don't know that much about you, give us a little bit of background about yourself. Lamb: Well, to begin with, I was born here in North Dakota. I'm a fifth-generation North Dakotan. My great-great-grandfather founded a little town in North Dakota called Michigan. It's about 50 miles west of Grand Forks and between here and Devil's Lake. If you're on Highway 2, you kind of have to go through Michigan. But that's my great-great-grandfather came out here on the railroad, and that was the destination that he picked, and they settled there, and from there, it's history, right? So I was born here in Grand Forks. My father was an attorney. I'm an attorney. I served in the military for over 20 years, and retired as a major in the Army. And I served on the school board here for 15 years. Pretty proud of that. And I have a family. Two boys are married. And my wife, Elizabeth. Quallich: Normally, being an Ohio native, Tim, I kind of shudder when people say Michigan, but since this is Michigan, North Dakota, we're talking about, I won't hold it against you at all. Lamb: Well, the history behind that, Nicholas, is that he called it, they called it Michigan because guess where they came from? Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the train with 13 kids. So that was interesting. Quallich: It sure was. So, tell us why you're running for the office of state auditor right now, Tim. Lamb: Well, look, the state auditor position is one of the most important positions in state government, in my opinion. And the reason for that is that it really is the function of the state auditor to maintain trust, transparency, and accountability in state government. And how is that done? Well, the state auditor audits all the accounts for not just the state agencies, but also for local and county and city government, as well as fire departments, and really does a great service to provide transparency as to where our dollars are going. And there are a couple of issues I think that really prompt somebody to want to challenge Josh Gallion for the position. know, some controversy as the sitting, as being in his eight years. He touts being transparent or transparent, but I challenge anyone to really understand what's going on with our state finances. So, what's going on with the Legacy Fund? I mean, it's going from, what, $10 billion to $11 billion. And so, does anybody know or understand how that fund is managed or maintained? And it's the state auditor's job to keep people informed. And I don't think that transparency is there. going on with the transparency with the rest of our governmental agencies and really getting down to the regions in the state. Regional forums to explain what's going on with our state government and the finance area and open it up to questions and Q&A, questions and answers. And of course, the press will be invited. I have yet to see a press conference-type forum in the eight years that Josh has been the state auditor. So really, there isn't any transparency. He touts it, but it isn't there. We need that, and people need to understand where our taxpayers, and our tax dollars are going. Lamb: And that's the reason I'm running. he's, there are a couple of other things that have gone on. He's used his office to promote others, his friends, I guess, for offices, which is, you know, violates the Political Corruption Act. And, you know, and I think the other thing he did was create a sort of a sensationalized event out of the, I think it was a fire department out there in Western North Dakota, where they just had a few, a couple of accounts. where we knew the principals had an account or had what we call petty cash, if you will, in the drawer, and a couple hundred bucks or whatever they used for going to eight parties, maybe to pay for the kids' lunch or something, or whatever they needed it for. And that came up, I was on the audit committee in the school board, and that came up every year when we got audited. And of course, we had to kind of chastise the principles. But the bottom line is, is, hey, look, that's pretty common practice. It's not something you want to sensationalize or bring out to say, hey, there's a fire department that has a little beer fund for parties and stuff. What's the point of that? It just embarrasses the fire department and it's not part of the duties of the state auditor. And bear in mind, I believe that the state auditor is a non-partisan position. In other words, look, it's by statute that you function, and it's not supposed to be a political position. So if you're using it as a political position, as my opponent is doing, that is not the way I would operate. Quallich: I will get back to all of that to your opponent, who I just had on the last episode of this podcast, but since you brought it up, you know, you mentioned this is not necessarily a political race in the traditional sense. However, you have the endorsement of the Dem NPL, and Josh Gallion is endorsed and is running under the Republican ticket. So, I guess the question is, if I were a viewer of this podcast, I'd wonder, well, what's the difference going to be then between a Republican and a Dem NPL candidate? Lamb: Well, for one thing, I think if you want to use the Dem NPL candidate as a label, that's fine because I was endorsed. I'm on the ballot because of the Dem NPL. But so is the position of the superintendent of schools. I mean, they go through a political party, but it's a nonpartisan position. And that's my point. I know it's not looked at that in any sense, but if you look at it from a broader perspective, you can see that, hey, look, it would be a good idea to have somebody from another party as the state auditor to maintain trust, transparency, and accountability. And I think that's why the Fargo Forum and the Grand Forks Herald endorsed me, endorsed Tim Lamb for the state auditor position, because they think that Josh Gallion is not going to provide that transparency and that accountability. He hasn't been doing it for eight years. He's abused the position and it's time for a change. Quallich: So then one other question regarding the party issue. How then do you sort of invite voters to look at you as a candidate who may be unsure or independent? How do you go about doing that? Lamb: You know, as you know, and looking at the last few cycles of our election, you know, and I ran for Attorney General the last cycle, it's very difficult on my side of the ticket to get over, I guess, maybe 35 percent or so. Because people, as you just insinuated, are going right down the column of either the R column or the Dem column. They are not thinking about what the candidate represents or what the office is. They are going right down that column and checking off that person behind that name or that particular office in that column. It's unfortunate, but even though I'm running as a Dem NPL, what I'm really running in as is an opponent of Josh Gallion. And for an office that is very important, it should be considered a nonpartisan office and it should, and voters ought to analyze or at least consider coming over on the downside for this office and considering the fact that, hey, do you want to maintain accountability and transparency in state government. And I will do that. And I think that that has been missing for the last eight years. I mean, we've had some very, very good examples of what happens when you lack accountability. We had the most powerful person in the state legislature come up for federal crimes and has admitted to it, and for child abuse in a foreign country, sexual crimes against a child. Why wasn't his travel, why wasn't that questioned by the state auditor? For over 10 years, he's traveled to Prague and never questioned. I can tell you, those travel expenses should be audited and they are supposed to be audited by the state auditor, which would have been discovered. There are some other instances of legislators being involved in the rental or real estate issues, even within the Attorney General's office. Lamb: But again, those instances should have been surfaced by the state auditor. It's easy to look at where the numbers are, where the money's being spent and question it. Question what is going on here. So that's important when you consider this office and why you want to vote for a Dem over a Republican, GOP is because of these kinds of instances that are happening time and time again in our state government. And we need to have somebody that's going to bring some transparency and accountability to state government. Quallich: And that case that you were referring to just a moment ago with traveling to the Czech Republic is referring to former state senator Ray Holmberg. Just want to clarify that for our viewers. Now, I'm in the unique situation, Tim, of doing a story when I first got here about some of the accusations being made against Auditor Gallion, namely when you talk about transparency, there was some criticism a couple of years ago of his office doing too many and as you probably know that his office's power was restricted because there are apparently too many audits coming out of his office. But fast forward now a couple of years, the legislature has passed that his office undergoes another audit. He's peer-reviewed by a group of his peers on a national level. So I'm curious as to what more sort of transparency besides the, you know, the audits that he puts out himself, apparently twice as many as his predecessor, what sort of more transparency would you go beyond that if you were elected? Lamb: Well, my plan is simply to provide to the citizens an accountability that is understandable and up to their questioning. And that includes the press and providing that explanation, which hasn't been done. And I challenge anyone that's saying that there are twice as many audits. The audits are mandated by law. They're specified in the statute and that's what you have to do. Every other year, each agency is audited. So, to double it up, I think, is not only redundant, but also a waste of the taxpayers' money. Now, as far as transparency, I understand he's got peer review, but it's the first time in the history of our state that the auditor has mandated a performance audit. A performance audit is not an audit of the numbers. It's an audit of what that office of the state auditor is doing. Is it doing its job? And the audit looks at the performance. And that means that are you doing what the statute requires you to do? In other words, we would have a performance audit from time to time in the school board. And what that would do is provide to the school board information on how our administration is doing its job, not the numbers. The numbers are done in a statement and accountability audit and those numbers are different than a performance. Are you performing your job correctly and according to the statute? In the Army, I was in the Army for 20 years, from time to time, we would have what you call an IG inspection, an Inspector General inspection. They would come down to our unit at the lowest level as a company commander in Germany, and they would look at every aspect of our operation, including your maintenance, your supply, your administration, your personnel, and how you're performing your mission properly. And it's the first time in history that the legislature has mandated that. They don't do that just on a whim. They do it because there's been a number of complaints and Josh is, you know, he's not cooperating. That's the first thing I would want to have done. If elected, I want to complete that performance audit because I actually want to know how that office is doing. That would provide me with some insight as to how, what's the efficiency, what's the effectiveness, what's the efficiency, are they performing up to the standards as in all the departments of the state audit. I would welcome that. Lamb: I look forward to it. I know they authorized, I believe, $500,000 to do that. I mean, it shouldn't be difficult to find a qualified auditor to perform that kind of function of the state audit. And that, I believe, passed at the last legislature. So it's been almost two years now since that passed. It has not been done, which is an indictment on the state auditor. Quallich: So let me ask you this, Tim. To what extent do you believe Auditor Gallion has been effective in his position? Lamb: Well, that's a good question. I haven't really thought about that angle. I have a difficult time comparing them to previous auditors. I understand that they have made a transition like all the departments in state government to more online or digital type transparency. But again, that's great. Just like with the Legacy Fund, they have a site, you can go to it, and it shows, hey, every month they have a report. But look at those reports. If you can understand it, you must have a CPA because they're very complicated. And the auditor, I think the auditor's responsibility what I would do as the auditor, I would come around to communities on a regional basis and explain what's going on with their city government, with their county government, with their fire departments, all aspects of what is relevant and what matters to those people. So they know, they have an assurance that things are going properly. Or on the other hand, if they're not going properly, what's going on? So as far as what Josh Kelley has done, you know, I guess on a positive side, he has allowed that transition to happen, which is going on in all the state government agencies. Having websites, for example, the Secretary of State has a website and if you go to it, with business licenses and things of that nature. So, I mean, it's more transparent. In other words, you don't have to call up the agency and ask them for information. You can go online and look at it. Lamb: But and so that's been done in the department. That's commendable. But I just would challenge the fact that you can't stop there. People want to know what's going on with the state government. What's going on with the $11 billion legacy fund? I think it's a very admirable fund to have because we're not gonna be able to have oil reserves, the revenue from oil for our lifetime, so to speak. It's a finite type of tax and it would be very, it's a very worthwhile project or worthwhile endeavor to have a legacy fund as a fallback. It's done in Norway, it's done in some other states that we have in the country. Alaska has one, I believe. And so it's work, but people understand in Alaska why they don't have to pay property taxes or why they don't have to pay income tax. They understand that there's a legacy fund or a fund generated from the oil production in that state. They understand that and they understand how much is in that fund where it's all going and how it's being managed. We don't do that here. That's a problem. That goes to transparency and accountability. Quallich: So, let's presume that we get a new auditor come this November. What is change or issue number one that you're going to address? Lamb: Issue number one is again going back to that performance. That's been challenged by the legislature. I'd like to get that implemented. conjunction with that, I want to establish a good relationship with the legislature. They're coming up for, you know, their next biennium in January. So, I want to be able to sit down with those committees, the relevant committees, and the legislature at large, be able to make sure I can communicate with them and understand what their needs are and what my needs are as far as from my, from the state auditor's position, what that entails. And of course, I want to establish a good relationship with the new governor. You know, state auditor would be on the governor's cabinet, so to speak, and that's going to be along with all these other important pieces. You kind of have to be juggling all these things, but that would be very important. And of course, establishing my leadership within the department, within the state auditor's office, my leadership skills, and how I would expect all my subordinates to act. I think that's really important. The first thing you do as a commander in the Army is address your soldiers and give them what you expect of them and what they can expect of you. Quallich: We've got just a few minutes left here, Tim, so I've got just a few more questions for you. What did you learn from your last run from office in taking it to this run this time around? Lamb: Yeah. I mean, running for office is not easy. First of all, I was asked to run the last time I was asked to run this time. is, you know, it's an honor for me to answer that call. And look, you know, you do the best you can. You try to get the word out, but again, the media, you know, people like you, and I appreciate this interview, but, you know, frankly, from my vantage point, I don't think there's enough of this type of media attention to the candidates. And therefore, we have this, I think, consistent sort of one-party state, a one-party state where the governorship, the legislature, all the federal offices are run by one party. And you have to ask yourself, I'm a student of journalism, I know that is to report all of the news and not be biased. But I wouldn't say that the media is complicit in the one-party system we have, but certainly, if the candidates are not getting their voice out there through the media, I don't see it. Again, it's happening this time. What is going on, whether it is intentional or not, but I got to tell you, that is one of the things I am learning as I run for the Attorney General's office and this office. I got the endorsement of the Fargo Forum and the Grand Forks Herald, and that I'm very proud of that and I respect them for doing that. And beyond that, what is the media doing to promote voter turnout? The worst voter turnout in our state's history when I ran last time, what are we doing to promote voter turnout and voter engagement and awareness of the candidates as opposed to just sort of generating and being complicit with this one-party state, which is really detrimental to governance in our state. It's not a positive for the state to be run by a one-party system. Quallich: And finally, Tim, speaking of which, why should North Dakotans vote for you? Lamb: Well, thanks for the question. I think I have articulated all the reasons that I would want voters to consider I'm well qualified for the position. I, you know, I've been practicing law. I do understand I have 20 years in the military. So I understand complex issues. I have a master's degree in management. So, I will be able to apply my leadership skills to that office. I think the office will be better run and the people of North Dakota will be better served if I'm elected. And the reason for that is all the reasons I've always stated, but most importantly, of North Dakota need to have a watchdog or somebody who is unbiased and open-minded and willing to address all of the audits that are conducted with the people and go to the press and address the tough questions like you're asking and explain what is going on in our state government as far as the finances. And that's what I will do. If elected, I will promise the people that you will get real, genuine transparency, not just in voice and not just in a promise, but in actual real performance. And I think I'm the best person to do that. The Fargo Forum says I'm the best person to do that. Grand Forks Herald says I'm the best person to do that. And if you look around the state, I think there are quite a few Republicans, friends of mine, that I'm the better candidate for that position. So I think that those people who are looking for somebody genuine, that's going to be true to their interests and be best for the state of North Dakota should vote for Tim Lamb or stay dark. Quallich: Okay. Tim Lamb, thank you so much for joining me, and thank you for watching The Voice of the People podcast here on kxnet.com. We'll be back soon with more on the questions and answers affecting you, because remember, it's your voice that matters: The Voice of the People. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Today's Top Stories SIGN UP NOW