You Did the Hiring - Thank you

Thank you, South Carolina. The job of keeping the state's books starts in January.

Yesterday South Carolina did the hiring. You elected me to be your next SC Comptroller General. Thank you.

Thank you to everyone who voted, for me or for someone else. The office keeps one set of books for the whole state. I will keep them the same way for everybody.

The Comptroller General keeps the state’s books: what came in, what went out, and what is left. I asked for your vote so I could count your money the way you counted it when it was yours and put the count where you can read it. You said yes. Now I owe you the work.

The job starts in January. As I begin, I will be learning the office from the people who work there. They know those books better than I do, so I will start by listening.

The legislature writes the budget and decides how the money is spent. My job is to see that the legislature and you have the right numbers, on time, in words everyone can understand. When my office gets a number wrong, you will hear it from us.

I look forward to working with Governor-elect Alan Wilson to root out waste and fraud. That work starts with books that are right, because you cannot find what you cannot count.

I will keep writing to you here, one state document at a time, with the page number, so you can check my work.

The money in the state’s books was yours first, and it still is. South Carolina is a great state that can be the best-run in the country. You did your part yesterday. In January I start on mine.