James Coburn
The Edmond Sun
EDMOND —
The dire financial state of Oklahoma and the U.S. has prompted Edmond Republican David Hanigar to run for the Office of State Auditor and Inspector, he said.
Hanigar, 66, will face 55-year-old Gary Jones of Cache in the Republican primary for state auditor and inspector on July 27. The winner of that race will go up against 57-year-old Antlers Democrat Steve Burrage in the general election Nov. 2.
Hanigar retired in April after spending 25 years working for the state auditor’s office.
“During that 25 years, I’ve been exposed to situations that I’ve found improper or inappropriate in the state auditor’s office,” said Hanigar, a Navy veteran of the Vietnam War.
He worked jointly with the Office of Attorney General doing fraud audits and litigation support. A number of Hanigar’s audits resulted in criminal prosecution, he said. Hanigar served as chief financial officer, prepared the budget and did purchasing for day-to-day financial operations, he said.
“I believe that my qualifications and experience that I’m the best person to make sure that the auditor’s office staff is trained to go out and recognize indicators of fraud and be able to support those findings in a court of law,” Hanigar said.
The auditor’s office should be more proactive in completing performance audits, he said. Only one performance audit has been completed since 2008, Hanigar said. In contrast, he said the state of Louisiana has completed 41 audits. Kansas has done 56 audits and Colorado completed 32 audits since 2008.
A performance audit measures an agency’s efficiency and use of tax dollars, he said.
“The state auditor needs to work closely with the governor, the Legislature and these agency heads to make sure we get these performance audits completed, identify waste in government and get that corrected,” said Hanigar, a certified public accountant.
The Oklahoma native earned a master’s degree in business administration from Oklahoma City University. He said he worked closely with William H. Braum as district manager for the Texas division of Braum’s Ice Cream and Dairy Stores.
“I oversaw the expansion into Texas and opened a number of stores,” Hanigar said.
Hanigar does not consider himself a politician by running for office. The office is not about campaign fundraising for election or re-election, he added.
“It’s a job to be done and not a prize to be won,” Hanigar said.
TO LEARN MORE about David Hanigar, visit his Web site at www.hanigarforauditor.com.
