Hoffer Speaks Out

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Created on Thursday, 01 November 2012 16:51

Written by Catherine Vitale

ST. JOHNSBURY - Democrat Doug Hoffer will face Republican Senator Vincent Illuzzi and Jerry Levy of the Liberty Union party for the position of state auditor on election day.

Current Auditor of Accounts Tom Salmon will not be running for re-election. 

This election year marks Hoffer's second time running for the Auditor position. Hoffer believes that he can help increase the transparency and accountability of the auditor's office. He does not believe that his opponent Vincent Illuzzi has the traits to make this happen.

Referring to Illuzzi's past position as chairman of the Institutions committee, Hoffer says that for the last six years that Illuzzi held the position there are only 12 recordings of committee hearings. This is compared to the Finance Committee's 346 recordings during the same period of time.

"It doesn't make Vince a bad guy," Hoffer said. "I think it raises a legitimate question about his transparency and accountability. The auditor's office is all about transparency, or it's supposed to be all about transparency and accountability. In this particular instance, he demonstrated a lack of concern about the public record."

Hoffer claims to be a man that's all about the numbers. He believes that as auditor he can be the one who advises wiser spending habits. Hoffer explained how he believes projects should be handled, taking the financial uncertainty out.

"What do we think collectively is the likelihood of finding some savings there? And if we think going in, then we don't know." Hoffer said. "Is it appropriate then to spend a hundred grand on a project? If we know that there's likely to be some savings, that's worth pursuing."

When asked about the difference in experience between Senator Illuzzi and himself, Hoffer explained that though he has not held elected office, while Illuzzi has 32 years experience under his belt, both men offer different skill sets. Hoffer said that, not to undermine Illuzzi's experience, he believed his skill set was better fit for the position of auditor.

"I bring some things to the job that may not be unique, but as a package, I think it makes me uniquely qualified," Hoffer explained. "I have a talent for identifying and asking tough questions. I have a desire to always produce evidence based findings, I will always let the facts speak for themselves."

To see the entire interview with Hoffer you can click here, to see Hoffer's opponent Vincent Illuzzi's interview you can click here.