Democratic and Republican parties are holding caucuses on Tuesday, and assemblies shortly thereafter. This part of the political process tends to be misunderstood. But I urge you to attend. Caucuses determine who will be on the primary ballot in June.
Our current treasurer, Allison Aichele, won a highly-contested election due to her greater qualifications and experience.
Tim Walsworth, the other candidate for treasurer, is the director of the Business Improvement District. His experience hasn’t dealt with complexities even approaching the magnitude of the Treasurer’s Office, which processes $80 million to $90 million in public funds, for more than 50 organizations, and is governed by over 2,500 pages of state law.
By comparison, the BID has a very small budget, around $250,000 annually. Does Tim Walsworth have the financial, legal and accounting experience to manage this office? I think not.
Allison Aichele, has an accounting degree and an MBA. She has worked for some of the largest corporations in key financial positions, including Microsoft and Pacific Gas & Electric.
As treasurer, she improved accounting processes and systems.
Her opponent has blamed her unfairly for department staff leaving, and likely doesn’t have the experience and skills to even use these systems. All of the employees in this office have a minimum of 10 years accounting experience.
It would be unwise to elect a treasurer who would be learning the systems without the accounting and management background of our incumbent. She has fixed the problems and improved the office systems and should be elected to continue to maintain them.
Daniel Morgenstern
Durango
