In an op-ed piece, “State government accountability” (BDN, Jan. 4), David Emery [a Republican candidate for governor] states he wants to provide a new vision for Maine, one founded in truth and transparency. To help him get started, I thought I’d provide some truth and transparency to the issues he discussed.

The Legislature’s Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability (OPEGA) has produced an interim report on the state’s information systems. The report appropriately points out areas of risk that require improvement, but also points out that “many issues raised in this assessment had already been identified and remedies for them were already in the Office of Information Technology’s strategic plan.” The report goes on to acknowledge that the current technology environment was not created by this administration, but was “inherited.”

Just three years ago, information technology was left up to each individual department and agency with little coordination or oversight. This parochial process of managing information technology (IT) was inefficient and ineffective. Over the past couple of years, the state’s chief information officer has moved to transform information technology to an enterprise-wide approach with common policies and procedures across state government and with a skilled and mobile work force that allows us to put our best people where we need them most.

What is the truth? The OPEGA report summary calls for the administration to “Stay the course – IT is heading in the right direction: protect the IT consolidation process so the State of Maine can reap the benefits.”

Emery also states that Gov. Baldacci did not support the funding of OPEGA. In the administration’s first year, facing a billion-dollar deficit, the governor determined to delay a handful of new programs that were passed by the prior Legislature without funding. The state simply could not afford to be creating new programs when it could not afford to fund the ones that already existed.

Further, OPEGA is an office of the legislative branch of government, not the executive branch over which the governor presides. While members of the Legislature debated the size and scope of their own office, the governor appropriately remained neutral saying he would find the necessary funding when legislative agreement was reached. What is the truth? The governor provided $600,000 in funding for OPEGA in Public Law 2003, Chapter 451, the Part II Supplemental Budget for FY ’04 and ’05 and arranged for office space to house OPEGA staff without charge.

Emery suggests contracting out for the single audit performed each year. This is something a number of other states do and I would agree that is an option that should be explored. And there were indeed accounting issues in the TANF, Medicaid and Migrant Worker programs. But, what is the truth? Many of the accounting issues he refers to were brought to our attention as part of the work performed by the Department of Audit. Emery does the audit staff a disservice in laying the blame at their feet because they uncovered the problem. Additionally, he confuses the date of discovery with the date of the problem. These issues are for audit years that clearly predate this administration, and once brought to our attention we have taken on the responsibility to clean them up.

Finally, Emery takes a shot at what he calls the abuses of the state budget process. What is the truth? Despite inheriting a government with a billion-dollar shortfall, the governor has managed to maintain essential government services and protect Maine’s most vulnerable people without raising a broad-based tax. He’s pushed back special interests that crave more government money and reorganized state government to operate more efficiently and effectively reducing the state work force by more than 500 positions. He’s funded 50 percent of local education and doubled the Circuit Breaker program to provide property tax relief; created a system to bolster employer based health care; established Pine Tree Zones to spur economic development; and created a true community college system to educate our work force.

The governor did all of this and managed to obtain an unqualified opinion on Maine’s financial statements three years running. Getting a clean bill of health on the state’s books is something no other administration has ever accomplished.

So much for the truth. For Emery’s sake, I hope his vision turns out to be more transparent than his motives.

Rebecca Wyke is the commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services.