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Witek earns a third term

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Tuesday, Oct 31, 2006 - 12:12:15 am CST

The Journal Star endorsed Kate Witek for state auditor when she was a Republican.

Now that she’s a Democrat, we endorse her again.

Witek has displayed independence and professionalism as state auditor. She deserves re-election because of the job she has done in the past eight years in an office that has an essential role in providing accountability in government. Under Witek, the auditor’s office has taken on more responsibility and saved money in the process.

Witek also has overseen a project in which audits of local governments have been put online. By visiting the auditor’s Web site, for example, a citizen in Lancaster County can look up the total outstanding debt for the Lincoln Public School District or the Lancaster County Ag Society.

Witek’s office has been key to uncovering a few scandals in the past few years, such reporting on the actions of former state Treasurer Lorelee Byrd that resulted in Byrd pleading guilty to a count of official misconduct.

At a time when auditing standards have been evolving because of such scandals as Enron and Worldcom, Witek and her staff have stayed current and up to date.

Her opponents are state Sen. Mike Foley of Lincoln, a Republican, Steve Larrick of the Green Party and Kelly Rosberg of the Nebraska Party.


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Wow wrote on October 31, 2006 6:51 am:
" she doesn't even have a college degree....you tell me how we can put her in charge of auditing the government's books??? And she talks of performance audits and the growth of government waste....well, Kate, you've had 8 years and the growth of waste has happened under your watch. should've thought of performance audits long ago. "

 JW wrote on October 31, 2006 8:15 am:
" Respectfully, I disagree with this endorsement. One of the most crucial elements to public service is a collection of the public trust. While Witek admittedly has done a satisfactory job as Auditor, I think she has betrayed & lost the public trust by forcing her way back into the Auditor's race. She knowingly chose NOT to run for this office in order to be Tom Osborne's Lieutenant Governor candidate. It is disingenuous to come back for the office after having already discarded pretenses for that office. I sense voters recognize that. "

 Ty wrote on October 31, 2006 9:52 am:
" I also disagree with the Journal on this one. Kate Witek betrayed the public trust by saying no to running again, then changing political parties to come back and say yes to running again in the 11th hour. Now I wouldn't say we throw her overboard simply for doing that (though I'm tempted to). But when you have a guy with an MBa who has done this type of work most of his life, I don't see how she should be retained. Furtehrmore, what she didn't accomplish in 8 years should not be her rallying cry of what she hopes to accomplish in 4. I'm independent, and Mike Foley is the candidate I'm voting for. "

 LR wrote on October 31, 2006 12:00 pm:
" Doesn't have a college degree? Well good, maybe we can get someone that knows something and has common sense instead of all these college graduates that can only go by the book, and don't have one bit of common sense. I didn't have a college degree, but rose to the top of a big corporation, as Treasurer, Vice President, and Secretary. And I was a woman. But it wasn't in Nebraska. Heaven forbid. Theres alot of people out there without college degrees that are more elligable and have common sense and forsight than a ton of these college graduates. Just check out Washington D.C. Are you extremely satisfied with those well educated, do nothing people that can only put their pants on backwards!! Bill Gates doesn't have a college education either, you got more money than he does????? "

 Hattie wrote on October 31, 2006 12:52 pm:
" I disagree with your endorsement. Can't you see she is just a Politically Bobble Head? Endorse someone that really cares and was up to taking care of the job, not this one. "

 How can we tell our kids to shoot for the stars wrote on October 31, 2006 12:58 pm:
" if one of the constitutional offices has a person with no advanced education? I see lots of dropouts if it gets out she has no degree. "

 Hold Your Nose and Vote wrote on October 31, 2006 3:48 pm:
" To my way of thinking, Witek is the lesser of two evils. The lack of college education doesn't bother me because she's served two terms as auditor and the office is running just fine. I don't recall ever hearing her say she wouldn't seek a third term but if she did say that and subsequently broke her promise, I still don't care. Although I disliked her as a state senator her opponent in the auditor's race, Mike Foley, was exposed as a dishonest and duplicitous state senator during the 2006 legislative session when he introduced a bill that would have cut funding to rural medical clinics. As far as I'm concerned neither Witek nor Foley deserves to be auditor, but at least Witek didn't try to deceive the people of this state. "

 RJ wrote on October 31, 2006 5:38 pm:
" 'It WAS in Nebraska, when I got out of school and a school chum & I came to Lincoln to find jobs. No jobs were to be had. Finally I went to the State Employment Dept. The man said 'YOU'LL NEVER GET A JOB!! Left the state, got a job immediately and rose to the top and lived happily ever after, UNTIL I had to come back to Nebraska. Hopefully not too long and I'm outta' here because I'm getting taxed to the brink. Nebraska is the most costly, greedy, rude and selfish state in the U.S. "

 Mary wrote on October 31, 2006 9:18 pm:
" Kate Witek decided to run as Tom Osborne's Lt. Governor in the Primary. When this effort failed, she now wants her job back. We all make decisions in our life and live with the end results. Kate needs to learn that she can't have her cake and eat it too. Changing from a Republican to a Democrat to enable her to be on the ballot shows a lot of immaturity on her part. "

 7 Days until Witek is gone wrote on October 31, 2006 11:11 pm:
" Good Riddance, Kate. "

 rb wrote on November 1, 2006 4:06 am:
" Look at the other choice and you will see Witek is the lesser of 2 evils. "

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