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Lane County commissioners weigh whether to refill long‑vacant performance auditor post
Summary
County HR briefed the board on the history of the performance auditor role, noting the position has been vacant since 2019 and comparator counties staff the function as a supervisory role. Commissioners asked for more detail on scope, budget impact and a spring follow‑up instead of immediate recruitment.
Ryan McBride, an account manager in Lane County’s Human Resources Department, told the Board of Commissioners on Wednesday that the county’s performance auditor position was created in 1985, first filled in 1986 and has experienced “significant turnover along with recurring vacancy periods.” He said the most recent occupant left in 2019 and the job has been vacant “for approximately 7 years.”
McBride described the position as a performance (operational) auditor rather than a financial auditor and said HR’s recent compensation and market review found the county’s salary range to be within market for comparator counties. He added those comparator counties typically staff the auditor as a supervisory position overseeing a small team of analysts, whereas Lane County’s role has been an individual contributor.
“An important point for context we found during that review is that all of our comparator county staff that perform the auditor role have a supervisory position, leading a small team of analysts to support workload, continuity and independence,” McBride said.
Commissioners raised questions about the role’s scope and budget implications. Commissioner Christopher Farr praised past auditors’ work and urged the board to treat audits as tools to improve processes rather than as punitive investigations. Other members asked staff to show concrete examples of prior audits and their outcomes, and whether the position would draw from the county general fund or a dedicated source.
County staff explained that, with the position vacant, the fraud/waste/abuse hotline and related intake are managed by a small team that includes the assistant county administrator and county counsel. Several commissioners said they want to hear from department directors about what program evaluation work departments already perform before committing to a new recruitment or to staffing the role with a team.
Rather than immediately posting the job, the board directed staff to return with additional information and comparative research. One recommendation that emerged was to revisit the matter in spring to show what, if anything, the organization is doing differently since the last auditor left and to provide more detail on oversight models and likely costs.
The board did not take formal action during Wednesday’s discussion; staff will provide follow‑up information to inform a later recruitment or policy decision.
