WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:06.440 So tonight, I get to introduce Nate George, and he is running for state auditor. In my opinion, 00:06.680 --> 00:11.960 he is the most qualified for this job, and you're going to see as he explains that to 00:11.960 --> 00:16.520 you. But let me read a summary of who Nate George is. So Nate George is running for 00:16.520 --> 00:20.860 Minnesota State Auditor because he believes Minnesotans deserve a government that is 00:20.860 --> 00:26.260 open, accountable, and responsible with every dollar. As state auditor, his mission 00:26.260 --> 00:31.680 is to bring transparency to every corner of government spending, ensure taxpayers can 00:31.680 --> 00:36.880 clearly see how their money is used and why. He will uphold accuracy in public 00:36.880 --> 00:41.380 financing, holding officials to the same high standards Minnesotans set for 00:41.380 --> 00:46.680 themselves, and through unwavering fiscal responsibility, he will safeguard our 00:46.680 --> 00:51.540 state's resources, promote efficient budgeting, prevent waste so that 00:51.540 --> 00:56.420 Minnesota's future remains strong, stable, and fair for all. Together, we can 00:56.420 --> 01:00.380 restore trust in government, strengthen oversight, and make sure every public 01:00.380 --> 01:04.420 dollar truly works for the people of Minnesota. Welcome, Nate George. 01:11.690 --> 01:17.090 All right. Well, that was my speech. So do we have any questions? I think we 01:17.090 --> 01:21.890 got the point. All right. Well, thanks for having me tonight, folks. My name is 01:21.890 --> 01:24.750 Mayor Nate George. I'm the mayor up in Brown, Minnesota. You may have heard 01:24.750 --> 01:28.610 of it, maybe not. I don't know. If you blink when you drive by, you'll 01:28.610 --> 01:36.770 completely miss it. So, homemade pie capital of Minnesota. So that's our 01:36.770 --> 01:42.430 lame claim to fame. I'm here tonight to talk a little bit about, first and 01:42.430 --> 01:47.630 foremost, educating and being informed voters. Because if you don't know... 01:48.450 --> 01:51.550 Well, let me ask you this. How many of you know what the state auditor's 01:51.550 --> 02:05.710 office is supposed to do? So that's a much better response. So I had gotten 02:05.710 --> 02:09.130 into the habit of asking the question, how many of you know what the state 02:09.130 --> 02:13.590 auditor does? Well, after people telling me and laughing at me over and over 02:13.590 --> 02:17.210 again, well, they don't do anything, I finally rephrased the question. 02:17.610 --> 02:23.370 So now I get a little bit more of a response. Yeah. So they're supposed 02:23.370 --> 02:35.710 to audit. What do they audit? All right, we got some observant people in the crowd 02:35.710 --> 02:38.910 tonight. That's good. That means you're paying attention, but we need to pay 02:38.910 --> 02:44.830 attention a little bit more. 100%. So the state auditor, believe it or not, 02:45.390 --> 02:52.250 doesn't audit the state. Anybody confused yet? Okay. Well, I'll walk you 02:52.250 --> 02:55.570 through it. And I apologize. I don't have another easel tonight, so this 02:55.570 --> 02:58.550 is kind of tilted. Let me know if you can't see it. When I'm done, I'll 02:58.550 --> 03:03.310 have it back out there at my table. Please come by and take a look. But this 03:03.310 --> 03:08.350 illustration here, I created to kind of help break it down as simply as 03:08.350 --> 03:12.030 possible, given that it is government and nothing about government is 03:12.030 --> 03:19.270 simple ever. But the state auditor is responsible for the oversight of over 03:19.270 --> 03:25.910 $60 billion in local government finances. 3,300 local entities across 03:25.910 --> 03:32.570 the state. Everything below the state is under their purview. They do not 03:32.570 --> 03:38.230 audit state agencies and state programs. Why is that important for you to 03:38.230 --> 03:42.970 know? And it's a test to see how much people are really paying attention. 03:51.940 --> 03:55.420 Yeah. Well, they don't have anything to do with the fraud that's 03:55.420 --> 04:00.880 going on in state programs because it's not under their purview. And that's 04:00.880 --> 04:04.940 by state statute. And that's what it is right there. Chapter six, Minnesota 04:04.940 --> 04:11.680 state statutes. Look it up. Fact check me, please. It's a very short read and 04:11.680 --> 04:16.980 it's pretty straightforward. But state statute chapter six is what gives 04:16.980 --> 04:21.260 the state auditor's office its authority in its scope. Okay. And in 04:21.260 --> 04:26.480 that statute, it thoroughly describes and very specifically describes the 04:26.480 --> 04:31.340 scope and authority of the state auditor's office, what it can and cannot 04:31.340 --> 04:37.140 audit. And nowhere in that statute does it say state agencies and state 04:37.140 --> 04:45.140 programs. It is all local government. Even furthermore, it specifically has 04:45.140 --> 04:50.360 a clause in there that says any duties or authorities expressly reserved 04:50.360 --> 04:57.600 for the legislative auditor in chapter three are specifically reserved for that 04:57.600 --> 05:04.860 office. So we flip the chapter three and we read about the legislative 05:04.860 --> 05:12.560 auditor. And what does that say that they do? Audits the state. Yep. We're 05:12.560 --> 05:17.660 connecting the dots. Awesome. That is the authority in independent office 05:17.660 --> 05:23.180 that audits the state agencies and state programs. So knowing that the 05:23.180 --> 05:29.100 legislative auditor has that explicit authority, we know that by statute, by 05:29.100 --> 05:36.460 law, the state auditor can't audit and investigate state agencies. They 05:36.460 --> 05:43.820 are specifically prohibited from doing so. And if anyone tells you which 05:43.820 --> 05:49.540 there are candidates out there who will and are trying to tell you this, that as 05:49.540 --> 05:53.560 the state auditor, they don't care. They're going to go after everybody. There 05:53.560 --> 05:58.020 are legal repercussions for doing that. And in fact, the state auditor has 05:58.020 --> 06:02.020 already gotten in trouble legally and had a ruling against them by the 06:02.020 --> 06:07.760 Minnesota Supreme Court back in 2017 for overstepping their authority. So 06:07.760 --> 06:14.140 what we don't need is reckless rhetoric, especially from people who have no 06:14.140 --> 06:20.440 background in anything auditing related whatsoever. Because that's what we've 06:20.440 --> 06:23.720 had for the last however many years that there's been a Democrat in that 06:23.720 --> 06:32.250 office. And what do we have to show for that lack of experience? If you can 06:32.250 --> 06:34.490 figure it out, let me know because I don't know the answer to that 06:34.490 --> 06:40.250 question either. Okay, we need to stop electing people who have no experience or 06:40.250 --> 06:45.870 background in what they're running for and expecting different results. That's 06:45.870 --> 06:50.890 where I come in. So let me jump into my speech real quick and then we'll get 06:50.890 --> 06:59.210 back to it. All right, good evening, my fellow Minnesotans. My name is Mayor 06:59.210 --> 07:02.590 Nate George and I'm running for Minnesota State Auditor because I 07:02.590 --> 07:07.090 believe government must work for the people it serves and it must be honest, 07:07.090 --> 07:13.590 honest, transparent and operate within its means. That's the key one. And 07:13.590 --> 07:21.030 accountable when it doesn't every single time. For my entire career, I've been 07:21.030 --> 07:25.850 trusted with one core responsibility. Safeguarding integrity and complex 07:25.850 --> 07:31.910 systems where the public deserves absolute confidence. Today, I serve as 07:31.910 --> 07:36.830 the Director of Licensing and Investigations for the MLAX Band of Ojibwe Tribal 07:36.830 --> 07:40.810 Gaming Regulatory Authority. I don't know how they fit that all on my on my 07:40.810 --> 07:46.690 business card, but they did. In that role, I lead teams of investigators, 07:47.110 --> 07:52.230 compliance specialists and community engagement professionals who ensure 07:52.230 --> 07:58.370 fairness, accountability and trust in regulated enterprises that impact 07:58.370 --> 08:04.170 thousands of jobs in millions of dollars. When I stepped into that position, 08:05.070 --> 08:10.910 our systems were slow and outdated. It's a common complaint that we hear 08:10.910 --> 08:16.610 amongst state employees right now. Licensing decisions and compliance 08:16.610 --> 08:21.930 audits took more than 30 days. I changed that. By modernizing 08:21.930 --> 08:26.890 procedures and demanding accountability, we reduced turnaround times to just 08:26.890 --> 08:33.470 three days. We reduced without sacrificing thoroughness or integrity 08:34.310 --> 08:40.850 and doing so. Today, our compliance rulings stand at a 98% favorable rate. 08:41.250 --> 08:47.010 What does that mean? We have a board that oversees our agency. We are an 08:47.010 --> 08:53.010 independent government agency that has oversight of the casinos and make 08:53.010 --> 08:57.250 sure that they are following state and federal gaming laws. When we have to 08:57.250 --> 09:02.330 present cases, we present them to that board and they make a ruling. So that 09:02.330 --> 09:08.830 means that the board has decided on the cases that we built, they ruled in 09:08.830 --> 09:13.390 our favor 98% of the time. That's not luck. That's just 09:13.390 --> 09:17.790 disciplined oversight done right. I also know what it means to protect 09:17.790 --> 09:21.670 public dollars at the local level because I do it every day as the 09:21.670 --> 09:27.430 mayor of Brown, Minnesota. When I took office, our city faced a significant 09:27.430 --> 09:32.170 financial deficit. We were almost a million dollars over budget and our 09:32.170 --> 09:37.470 budget is only about $2 million to begin with. We were hit with a 48% 09:37.470 --> 09:43.570 property tax levy increase. And our infrastructure was 100 plus years old 09:43.570 --> 09:48.390 in some parts of town and literally crumbling beneath our feet. We didn't 09:48.390 --> 09:53.650 make excuses, though. We just fixed it. No more kicking the can down the road 09:55.010 --> 10:00.870 and kicking our feet up on the desk. We modernized financial systems. We 10:00.870 --> 10:08.170 increased transparency. We restored fiscal discipline. No more looking at 10:08.170 --> 10:11.430 last year's numbers and then just adding 10 grand and that's your budget. 10:12.850 --> 10:16.050 But going line by line to determine what was actually needed and what 10:16.050 --> 10:23.090 wasn't. Not what we wanted, but what do we need at the bare minimum to provide 10:23.090 --> 10:27.970 the basic services that were required to provide to our taxpayers? And that is 10:27.970 --> 10:35.930 it. Not a penny more. To lead by example, I refused my mayoral stipend 10:35.930 --> 10:40.770 for a year until the financial situation was turned around. I worked 10:40.770 --> 10:47.550 for free. One by one, every city council member followed suit. The result, 10:48.350 --> 10:54.350 Bram reversed its deficit and has seen back-to-back budget surpluses. Our 10:54.350 --> 10:59.070 cash reserves went from negative to a stable 50% of general fund balance. 11:00.590 --> 11:07.590 Excuse me. And we secured more than $13 million in first-time funding to 11:07.590 --> 11:13.070 rebuild roads, improve water and sewer systems, and deliver real results for our 11:13.070 --> 11:17.270 residents. That's what responsible auditing and financial oversight should 11:17.270 --> 11:22.690 do. Protect taxpayers, strengthen communities, and plan for the future. 11:24.690 --> 11:30.050 I also bring the perspective of service beyond politics. I have served 11:30.050 --> 11:34.950 as a firefighter, a sheriff deputy, and a capital officer with the state 11:34.950 --> 11:40.850 patrol. I'm a master sergeant in the United States Air Force Reserve with 11:40.850 --> 11:47.090 over 20 years of service as of last month. Currently supporting strategic 11:47.090 --> 11:51.230 planning at Pacific Air Force's headquarters. I sell the four-star 11:51.230 --> 11:57.770 general when his good idea fairies are just too good to be true. And I've 11:57.770 --> 12:03.790 done that a lot. I've learned that leadership means preparation, 12:03.790 --> 12:09.230 accountability, and making tough decisions guided by facts, not politics. 12:10.490 --> 12:14.590 I have been on three combat deployments to the Middle East and one non-combat 12:14.590 --> 12:19.950 deployment to Malaysia. I have earned more than 20 military medals and awards, 12:20.650 --> 12:25.070 but what matters most to me is trust. The trust of the people that I serve 12:25.710 --> 12:32.010 and that I lead, whether in uniform, in city hall, or in public administration. 12:33.790 --> 12:39.970 As state auditor, I will bring that same commitment to Minnesota. I will fight for 12:39.970 --> 12:44.970 transparent audits, fair oversight of local governments, and responsible 12:44.970 --> 12:50.010 stewardship of public funds. I will ensure that every dollar is accounted for, 12:50.870 --> 12:55.230 every community is treated fairly, and every Minnesotan can have confidence 12:55.230 --> 12:59.330 that their local government is being good fiscal stewards of their money. 13:00.310 --> 13:06.230 This office isn't about headlines. It's about integrity. It's about making sure government 13:06.230 --> 13:13.170 earns the public trust each and every day. We need to stop electing people with no 13:13.170 --> 13:20.170 background or experience into office and expecting different results. It is because 13:20.170 --> 13:24.910 of my direct background and experience that I was able to create a first of its kind 13:24.910 --> 13:28.790 proactive auditing tool. See it right here to my left. 13:30.210 --> 13:35.990 At a press conference from the state capital last week, I unveiled my fraud risk score concept. 13:37.050 --> 13:41.670 Like each one of us who has an individual credit score, whether we want one or not, 13:43.210 --> 13:50.150 each of the 3,300 local entities that includes counties, cities, townships, and school boards 13:50.750 --> 13:57.130 would be given an individual fraud risk score under my plan. Utilizing staff that already 13:57.130 --> 14:03.870 exists and information already being gathered in areas such as internal control standards 14:03.870 --> 14:12.770 or lack thereof, separation of duties again or lack thereof, fund balance trends over time, 14:13.170 --> 14:16.750 always seeing sharp increases and sharp decreases consistently, 14:18.790 --> 14:24.070 and history of prior findings or complaints. Each area would be graded, 14:25.710 --> 14:30.870 generating an overall score that falls somewhere on the low, moderate, or high-risk scale. 14:32.030 --> 14:36.630 More importantly, a public online dashboard would be established, 14:37.550 --> 14:42.610 which would then enable any member of the public to look up any local entity's score 14:43.370 --> 14:48.390 and ask their local officials what they are doing to improve it or maintain it. 14:49.970 --> 14:52.510 That's where public accountability comes back into the picture. 14:54.070 --> 14:59.690 I have also submitted a proposed bill that would not only make the fraud risk score law, 15:00.330 --> 15:05.150 it would enable the legislature to use it and require a minimum fraud risk rating 15:05.730 --> 15:12.850 in order to be eligible for any state funding, incentivizing local governments 15:13.610 --> 15:20.930 to proactively demonstrate that they can protect your tax dollars before they've even received 15:20.930 --> 15:26.390 the funds. And we wouldn't have to lift the finger to do it. 15:28.850 --> 15:39.130 So what I envision is the state auditor's office already has a government information 15:39.130 --> 15:44.310 to the division that collects this data every year from annual audits. Every city, county, 15:44.750 --> 15:49.990 school board is required to have an annual audit. And even though they have those 15:49.990 --> 15:56.150 audits performed by third parties most often, they still have to submit that report to the state 15:56.150 --> 16:02.430 auditor's office, okay? So it requires no budgetary appropriations to do what they're 16:02.430 --> 16:08.870 already doing. It's just presenting the data in a different way that is more consumable 16:08.870 --> 16:15.330 and accessible to the general public. So when you go on to the dashboard, this is what you see. 16:16.090 --> 16:22.930 You type in your county name or your city name and this pops up and wherever this needle falls 16:23.650 --> 16:29.170 for that entity will be based on these contributing factors that I just read off. 16:30.430 --> 16:36.310 There's no opinion involved in coming up with this score which removes the politics out of it. 16:36.750 --> 16:43.450 It is purely data driven. And that data and those data sources are 100% transparent 16:43.450 --> 16:51.250 because they can be tied back to the audit report. You can then take this information back to your 16:51.250 --> 16:57.750 county board or your city council. Alan, I'm hoping you're with me on this one. 17:00.130 --> 17:04.590 Not trying to make your life more difficult. But you can take this back to your local 17:04.590 --> 17:10.470 your government board and say, you know, hey, good job if it's a low score, right? 17:10.470 --> 17:15.710 We deserve praise once in a while. Or if it's a moderate or high risk score, 17:16.370 --> 17:19.150 why is that the case? And what are you doing to improve it? 17:20.810 --> 17:24.490 Because that's where fraud and misuse of public funds occurs, folks, 17:25.090 --> 17:28.030 when nobody's watching and people stop asking questions. 17:29.890 --> 17:35.830 So it gives you the ammo and the information you need to go ask questions. And the rest 17:35.830 --> 17:44.350 is up to you. Now, with this bill being proposed, and I'm currently working with my buddy Jimmy 17:44.350 --> 17:49.110 Gordon to look at it, revise it, make sure it's something that we can actually push, 17:49.990 --> 17:56.270 I am the only candidate that has submitted a bill to actually reform and modernize the 17:56.270 --> 18:01.230 state auditor's office. And that includes one of my opponents who's a current sitting state rep. 18:02.410 --> 18:03.910 So, please remember that. 18:06.370 --> 18:13.150 Folks, once again, my name's Nate George. I've balanced budgets. I've rebuilt auditing 18:13.150 --> 18:19.290 in compliance systems. I've investigated in uncovered fraud, theft, and misuse of public 18:19.290 --> 18:26.990 funds. I've enforced compliance and served my country in many capacities. I am an expert 18:26.990 --> 18:31.350 at what I do, and I'm ready to bring meaningful reform and modernization 18:31.870 --> 18:37.570 by serving Minnesota as your next state auditor. Thank you very much, and I'd be honored to have your support.