It’s been a deflating year for the Washington State Auditor’s Office – incumbent Troy Kelley isn’t seeking re-election after multiple financial crime allegations and charges manifested – and so far five candidates have filed to take it over come November.
One of them is Federal Way resident and state Sen. Mark Miloscia (R-District 30). A longtime advocate of audits, oversight, and system-driven government efficiency, Miloscia’s enthusiasm for the analytical work of the Auditor’s Office is evident.
“Everywhere I’ve been in my legislative career has been focusing on, ‘How do we have good accountability? What do we have to do to get the agencies to execute correctly and to succeed?'” he said. “I’m one of the few geeks out there who enjoys this.”
Miloscia, a member of the state House of Representatives from 1999-2013, ran for the statewide auditor position in 2012. He came in fourth in the Democratic primary that year, then he switched parties and ran successfully for the Federal Way state senate seat in 2013. Back in Olympia, he returned to working on bills on accountability and audits – he estimates he’s introduced 50 or so such bills in his time at the legislature – and says he wasn’t planning on seeking the Auditor’s Office again despite his affinity for the work.
“It’s been my passion,” Miloscia said. “I wasn’t looking to run, but, unfortunately, Troy Kelley made it an issue of accountability and made that the issue of the year – I use the word ‘laughingstock.’ He’s brought shame to that office. Morale, I believe, is at an all-time low, and I know people’s trust, and the legislative branch’s and even the executive branch’s trust in that office, is at an all-time low. I think I’m the person to bring that organization back up and take it to new heights.”
With Kelley leaving under a dark cloud of mismanagement and ethics charges, Miloscia wants to make sure the public knows the next auditor is looking out for them and not for themselves.
“The state auditor is the one person the public looks to, and has responsibility, to make sure we have efficient, effective and ethical government, independent from the other statewide elected officials and the governor and judicial branch,” he said. “It’s the person everybody looks to to make sure we have a trustworthy, good-steward government.”
Miloscia’s background is filled with certifications, awards, and legislative actions aimed at introducing streamlined oversight to state government – he’s been a member of the American Society of Quality since 1991 and is the only lawmaker in the country to serve as an auditor for the Baldrige Performance Program, a prestigious public-private partnership focusing on performance excellence. He’s the chair of the state Senate’s Committee on Accountability and Reform, but he says his dedication to oversight started long before.
“I got involved in my first audits in the late ’80s,” he said. “If you remember the contract scandals of the late ’80s – the $800 hammers – I was involved in all those scandals. Although the items I discovered in those audits didn’t make the papers, I’ve literally seen and discovered the Air Force buying light bulbs that initially cost $12 cost $650. I saw them buying coffee pots, again for $14, for $800. And I realized that government left by itself without somebody trying to be that good steward does crazy, wasteful, and sometimes criminal activities.”
Miloscia says he demands efficient and focused government, not the elimination of it.
“I have a longtime record. This is something I’m doing, not ‘to drown government in a bathtub’ or ‘make government over-controlling,'” he said. “It’s about helping people.
“Everybody knows I’m a social justice champion. Ending homelessness and trying to help those less fortunate. But when you have the mayor of [Seattle] saying, ‘We don’t know where we’re spending our money,’ or, ‘We’re just making it up as we go; meanwhile, support this $290 million housing package, and by the way we need more money…’ Well, that doesn’t inspire anybody to go, ‘Yeah, let’s open our wallets and give them more money.’
“So I want to restore that trust. I want Seattle to be successful. I want King County to be successful. I want this state to be successful. So when we truly need money for something that’s needed for something important, the voters are on our side.”
According to his campaign biography, Miloscia received an engineering degree from the Air Force Academy after serving as a B-52 pilot. He has an MBA from the University of North Dakota, a Masters in Clinical Psychology from Chapman University, and he graduated from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Senior Executives in State and Local Government program. Professionally, Miloscia has worked as a contract manager and an executive at Tacoma Goodwill Industries and Federal Way Youth and Family Services. He works as an emergency substitute teacher in the Auburn School District.
Miloscia lives in Federal Way with Meschell Miloscia, his wife of 35 years.
Miloscia’s campaign website is www.markmiloscia.com.
[Editor’s note for paragraph 12: Miloscia, when interviewed June 1, said, “But when you have the mayor of Federal Way saying, ‘We don’t know where we’re spending our money…’ meanwhile, support this $290 million housing package…'” The quote appears this way in the June 3, 2016, print edition of the Federal Way Mirror.
Miloscia said on June 6 that he had meant to say “the mayor of Seattle” and “must have had Federal Way on my mind.” Given the $290 million figure he referenced, Miloscia’s statement appears credible and this story has been updated accordingly.]
