Insider, outsider face off in the auditor-controller race

May 15—Kern County residents have two choices for their next auditor-controller-county clerk-registrar of voters in June: an insider or an outsider.

Assistant Auditor-Controller Aimee Espinoza, 45, the No. 2 in the office, and local businessman Mark McKenzie, 65, are both on the ballot, and the candidate who receives 50 percent of the vote plus one will win. If neither person secures the majority, both will advance to the general election in November.

The auditor-controller is the chief fiscal officer in Kern County, and provides accounting, payroll and auditing to county departments. The county clerk is in charge of issuing marriage licenses, registering notaries and processing other legal documentation. The registrar of voters oversees county elections and is responsible for voter registration.

For the first time since 1994, multiple candidates are vying for the office, according to Auditor-Controller Mary Bedard, who will retire at the end of her current term after assuming the post in 2013.

There's certainly been increased scrutiny in how elections are run nationwide after widespread but so far unproven claims of widespread voter fraud following the 2020 election.

McKenzie, founder and CEO of Trestles Construction Solutions LLC and senior vice president at The Industrial Co. (TIC), seeks to reform the elections office. He led a group of observers during the recall election and witnessed "poor leadership, mismanagement and not necessarily ... evidence of fraud, but certainly a lot of opportunity for fraud" while watching poll workers.

"I just was very concerned as a citizen that it was going to be business as usual," McKenzie said, referring to how past races for the office have gone unchallenged.

Espinoza said there has been no evidence of voter fraud, and vows to revamp the election process to improve transparency and efficiency. She noted these upgrades are underway.

"I feel it's really important for people to have trust that their vote is being counted, that their voice is being heard," Espinoza said. "And that the (elected) person is not bringing in their own agenda."

Background

The path to candidacy did not arrive easily for McKenzie: He sued Bedard in Kern County Superior Court to get his name on the ballot, after she claimed he did not possess an accounting degree or its equivalent, as is the requirement to run for auditor-controller-county clerk-registrar of voters.

Bedard wrote in an email McKenzie took two introductory accounting courses at Colorado State University system, adding these classes are not equivalent to an accounting major. McKenzie said he holds a bachelor's degree in business management with a concentration in organizational leadership and a master's degree in technology commercialization.

Judge Thomas Clark ruled in McKenzie's favor, saying the candidate possesses a bachelor's degree in accounting and has taken 45 credits toward the degree. Bedard, who did not back a candidate, citing her role as the registrar of voters, placed him on the ballot as a result of the order.

"I personally think it's unfortunate that a judge granted" McKenzie's request to be on the ballot, Espinoza said. She earned a business administration degree with a concentration in accounting from Cal State Bakersfield.

Espinoza notes her opponent cannot answer highly technical questions about accounting without direct experience. She started in the auditor-controller's office in 2006 as an accountant and rose to a senior accountant. Espinoza then left the office to work in the county administrative office, budget division as an analyst and ascended to the senior fiscal and policy analyst position. In July 2019, she was appointed as the assistant auditor-controller.

McKenzie said he has supervised accountants and he doesn't anticipate doing data entry as an executive controller. When asked about answering high-level questions posed by accountants under him, the businessman said he is 100 percent confident he'll be able to respond to those questions because he has "spent quite a bit of time on the county budget" and spoken with the County Administrative Office.

Regarding auditing experience, McKenzie said his nearly 30 years in the industrial construction business have required him to ensure each site abided by standard practices. He said he also guaranteed various departments under him followed specific procedures.

McKenzie said he has a Lean Six Sigma black belt from Villanova University, which will help him accomplish his goal of tightening the budget. According to the university's website, the certification teaches the student about problem-solving methods, processes for collecting and analyzing data, improving profits by increasing efficiency and leading quality improvement initiatives.

If elected county clerk, McKenzie said he would have several ideas to streamline processes for the job because he dealt with thousands of documents on his multibillion-dollar construction projects. He declined to give specific ideas, but said he has gotten feedback from friends who have had difficulties obtaining documents.

Ideas for office

Both candidates said they will hold the county accountable as auditors.

Espinoza said she wants to conduct more countywide audits. Some departments had their credit card restrictions lifted amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which was the right move, Espinoza said. However, she aims to ensure all proper procedures were followed.

The assistant auditor-controller wants to revamp the office's website to make it more user-friendly and to insert the presence of her office in other departments to ensure correct procedures are followed. If elected, Espinoza seeks to educate voters about the election process as well.

During her career as the chief accountant of the county, Espinoza said she has forged a relationship with the County Administrative Office, which will help to further improve her own, if she's elected.

McKenzie said his college education will allow him to upgrade technology in the elections office and his leadership experience will help boost morale in the office.

A separate elections office

During an hours-long discussion at its March 1 meeting, the Kern County Board of Supervisors heard from a number of residents who called for splitting the elections office from the auditor-controller.

McKenzie said he supports this move. Espinoza said she is "Switzerland," or neutral, on the issue, although she said she is supportive of a separation if it increases voter confidence. She noted the auditor-controller's office has successfully run elections for years.

"I'm not in opposition to it, but I'm also not going to like, 'Hey, (separating the elections office) should be done,'" Espinoza said. "It's kind of whatever the will of the board is ... (and the) will of the people."

Espinoza said she doesn't listen to "conspiracy theorists" or those believing misinformation about the voting process because there is no fraud in Kern County. She has been helping prepare for elections since 2006, including working on election day, and knows state law governing elections.

This "boots-on-the-ground experience" separates her from her opponent, Espinoza said.

She added the office has addressed residents' complaints by hiring more staff and remodeling the vote-by-mail room to speed up the election certification process. Espinoza notes the county completed processing votes before the state's deadline and that COVID-19 decreased the number of staff working, which impacted their efficiency.

You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @idesai98 on Twitter.