Auditor Q&A:

Why are you running for this office?

• I am a public servant. As County Auditor, I can better leverage my skillset to serve the public in a more meaningful way.
• As County Auditor, I will seek to maintain or bring fairness to all businesses and residents.
• To identify and recommend cost-cutting efficiencies that lower expenses for Clermont County taxpayers.
• To lead the Auditor’s office employees by listening to and then acting on their concerns and ambitions.

What are your qualifications and experience?

• Tax Accountant
• Xavier University MBA with an emphasis in Taxation
• Certified Treasury Professional (CTP)
• School District Treasurer License (exp. 2023)
• Thirty years accounting, budgeting, forecasting, planning, reporting, analysis, and management
• State Representative – 2013 to 2020
• Union Township Trustee since 2022
• Earned reputation for being a public servant (in the true sense), a “man of the people” and reluctant to spend other people’s money
• Examined every line-item expense
• Multiple public presentations regarding distribution of property taxes, financial reviews, and debt analysis
• Found ways to go beyond job expectations such as roadside trash collection
• Clermont County Republican Party Audit Committee Chairman – fiscal years 2023 and 2024
• Eight years as an Ohio Republican Party State Central Committeeman
• Attended every meeting in Columbus
• Frequently attended meetings and events in the five counties I represented
• Nearly 33-years serving as a precinct committeeman
• Attended nearly every meeting
• Author of “The Becker Report” published monthly since 2004 with a current list of nearly 600 subscribers. (Nobody gets spammed.)
• Creator of multiple YouTube videos introducing The Becker Report
• Ubiquitous social media presence
• Vetted, Tested, and Proven

What will be your top 3 goals, should you be elected?

• Audit the Auditor’s office. By that I mean a review of the office’s policies and procedures. After 30+ years, it’s time for a fresh set of eyes.
• Closely examine high-end commercial properties to verify (or correct) assessed values. If any of those properties are undervalued, residents are paying more than necessary.
• Create “Auditor University” (or maybe I’ll call it something else). This will be a series of brief “meet the auditor” YouTube videos on topics of interest to the public and relevant to the office such as millage, effective millage, 20-mill floor, valuations, Board of Revision, homestead exemption, CAUV, etc.

How will you fund your race?

• I am willing and able to self-fund.
• I can’t, in good conscience, solicit campaign donations from large business owners knowing that I intend to closely examine their commercial property valuations.
• Nobody owns me and nobody ever will.

What are your strengths that would enable you to do this job effectively?

• I’m analytical, detail-oriented, and thorough.
• Before earning my MBA from Xavier University (with an emphasis in Taxation), I majored in Business Management and minored in Psychology at Northern Kentucky University. Combined with multiple managerial roles (with direct reports) throughout my 30-year business career, this gives me both the hard skills and the soft skills needed to serve successfully as County Auditor.

What is your greatest weakness?

• Hey, I’m an introvert and I’m quirky. I’m not gregarious or charismatic. I’m the analytical, detail-oriented accountant type who prefers digging into spreadsheets and ensuring accuracy over working a room or glad-handing. Fortunately, the Auditor’s job requires precision and integrity far more than a polished personality.

What has been the most significant accomplishment in your professional career? In your personal life?

• Rising to the levels of Assistant Vice President (AVP) and Senior Financial Analyst at Fifth Third Bank, Finance Officer at Provident Bank, Business Analyst at Access Financial, and Treasurer at Hillcrest Training School.
• At Provident Bank, I developed a macro-driven budgeting and reporting system that balanced the books from the highest level down to each individual department. Replacing a laborious process that tolerated an “acceptable” out-of-balance amount, my system revolutionized the process and balanced everything precisely.
• In my personal life, devoting my life to Jesus Christ, maintaining a marriage of nearly 36 years, raising two children, and becoming a grandpa.

What are the major influences in your life?

• The Holy Bible and my family

What are you passionate about?

• God, family, country, and local community.
• Also passionate about pro-life, gun rights, limited government and keeping the upward pressure off of taxes.

What have you done that demonstrates your commitment to conservative Republican values?

• As a State Representative, I went to Columbus to defend, support, and promote the conservative Republican values of Clermont County. I voted against multiple spending bills and other legislation that ran counter to our community’s conservative Judeo-Christian principles.
• As a Union Township Trustee, I’ve consistently voted against unnecessary spending to minimize future property tax increases.
• For my nearly 33 years on the central committee, I have:
• Substantially funded the Party.
• Consistently worked multiple polling locations by distributing slate cards or driving to deliver food and beverages to outside poll workers.
• Paid all expenses out of my own pocket.

What is the proper role of government?

• In short, the proper role of government is to secure our God-given rights and maintain an orderly society. Federal, state, and local governments have distinct duties, yet all share this core purpose.
• I agree with Thomas Jefferson: “The government closest to the people serves the people best.”

How would you address regulations if elected?

• The law must be followed. Where judgement and discretion are permitted, I will seek fairness and error on the side of the taxpayer.
• As a former state representative, I know how to research and pursue getting needed changes to burdensome regulations.

What does upholding the Constitution & Bill of Rights look like in the office you are seeking?

• The U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, federal law, Ohio Constitution, Ohio Revised Code, Ohio Administrative Code, and case law must govern the office.
  
  In brief, a few constitutional rights immediately come to mind:
• Due process per the 5th and 14th Amendments for fair and consistent property valuations.
• Address grievances per the 1st Amendment via the Board of Revision hearings as well as other avenues.
• Commerce clause per Article I, Section 8 would apply to weights and measures.