Episode 39 - Jennifer McGuirk

What happens when your government just... doesn't pick up the phone? In this episode, Leita Hart-Fanta sits down with Jennifer McGuirk, elected county auditor for Multnomah County, Oregon, to talk about two audits that hit close to home for anyone who's ever battled a phone tree or wondered whether their vote is being counted correctly. Jennifer walks us through a creative, citizen-centered customer service audit that had her team posing as ordinary residents, armed with untraceable cell phones and anonymous email accounts, to test whether county departments were actually showing up for the public they serve. The results were eye-opening: 80% responsiveness sounds decent until you remember that government should be answering all the time, not most of the time.Jennifer then turns to an even higher-stakes subject: elections. With Multnomah County preparing to roll out ranked choice voting county-wide after piloting it for the City of Portland, Jennifer's office took a hard look at election integrity, ballot errors rooted in GIS data issues, and the very real human cost of staffing an elections office in an era of vandalism and political hostility. Despite the challenges, the audit delivered something rare and valuable, genuine public assurance that the voting process is sound, while surfacing practical recommendations around voter education and internal GIS expertise that local officials are already moving to act on.CHAPTERS:00:00: Introduction: Meet Super Auditor Jennifer02:33: The Customer Service Audit: Origins and Methodology05:01: Results: What 171 Phone Calls and 79 Emails Revealed07:15: Did the Audit Dig Into Why Phones Went Unanswered?09:17: Recommendations13:10: Other Citizen-Experience Audits14:28: The Elections Audit17:16: Findings19:36: The Human Side: Volunteers, Threats, and the Cost of Public Service21:42: Personal Safety as an Elected Auditor24:15: Words of Wisdom for New AuditorsABOUT JENNIFER McGUIRK:Jennifer McGuirk, CIA, is serving her second four-year term as Multnomah County Auditor. In this role, Jennifer promotes an accountable and equitable county government. Her office includes four interconnected functions: performance audits; a fraud, waste, and abuse hotline; the county ombudsperson; and community engagement. During her tenure, she has overseen a variety of audits and investigations into county operations, while successfully advocating for County Charter amendments and Code changes to protect the independence of the Auditor’s Office. Jennifer holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oregon and a master’s in public administration, emphasizing local government administration, from Portland State University.