Palo Cedro accountant Faulkner will challenge incumbent auditor-controller

FAULKNER

Randal Faulkner, 57, of Palo Cedro has declared himself a candidate for the June primary election of Shasta County Auditor-Controller although, as of press deadline, Faulkner had yet to file official paperwork for the position currently held by Connie Regnell, also 57, of Redding.

The eldest of five children born to a career U.S. Air Force airman, Faulkner grew up at a wide variety of locations. He graduated from Rancho Cordova High School in 1970 and majored in mathematics while attending college. In 1980, he earned an accounting degree from Cal-State Sacramento.

He received a conditional or 'G' rating as a Certified Public Accountant on Feb. 8, 2008, 11 days prior to starting work for Shasta County in the Auditor/Controller's office.

Faulkner claims his 30 years of work experience in accounting and auditing as his best qualifications for public office.

"I spent 30 years working for the federal government including six years investigating fraud at the Department of Defense as part of Operation Mongoose in Monterey. Prior to that assignment, Faulkner spent nearly 16 years as a civilian accountant working at McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento where "I briefed a two-star general and his staff," he said.

When not working, Faulkner is the founder and director of Redding Masters Softball, a senior softball league that plays its games at Big League Dreams in Redding.

"We don't turn anyone away," Faulkner said of the league's qualifications.

An active member of Faith Lutheran Church on Pinon, Faulkner also does mentoring through the Shasta Family YMCA's PlusOne Mentors program.

"In other communities, I have been involved in softball and basketball leagues, either as a player or as a coach. I have also served as a coach for the Special Olympics," Faulkner said.

In the seven weeks that he worked in the county Auditor/Assessor's office, Faulkner said of Regnell, "I saw a tremendous amount of inefficiency and a total lack of qualifications. Her lack of qualifications has caused a turnover of nearly 87 percent."

Faulkner said he filed a Freedom of Information request to establish that 19 people had left the 22-position department during a period of three years.

Faulkner also cited a Grand Jury report from several years ago that faulted Regnell's former boss and predecessor Rick Graham for low qualifications, a high staff turnover of more than 60 percent and for hardly spending any time in the office.

"When I worked there, one of my recommendations was to install a formal fraud detection program," Faulkner said.

Regnell's "lack of knowledge" about accounting practices "leads to a lack of understand of how fraud operates," he continued. "Because of the high turnover and the lack of knowledge, we have very few audits going on."