Auditor Timothy M. O’Brien, (a Denver Lion) is pleased to accept the Association of Local Auditors’ (ALGA) top honor for journal contributions for the article “Marijuana Policy in Denver.”
“Our 2016 audit of the Office of Marijuana Policy broke new ground by examining handling of marijuana policy and tax revenue,” Auditor O’Brien said. “We relied on time-tested standards and training to address an issue not yet encountered anywhere else in the U.S.”
The organization chose the article from among all of the journal contributions for the 2017 Outstanding Contribution to “Local Government Auditing Quarterly” award. The “Marijuana Policy in Denver” article focused on innovation and process for auditing the Office of Marijuana Policy. The Auditor’s team worked to apply audit practices to a new kind of government office.
The purpose of the award is to recognize an article that makes a noteworthy contribution to the field of auditing. The organization says the award “recognizes articles that educate fellow auditors on new and innovative audit practices and techniques, share experiences and lessons learned, and provide insight into the field of auditing with clarity and eloquence.”
The ALGA award winner is chosen through a two-part selection process. Judges consider nominated articles’ significance of content, effectiveness of auditing methods, the degree to which the article breaks new ground or uniqueness, and the style of communication and clarity of conveying information.
The judges said Auditor O’Brien’s contribution was a “fantastic tie-in to the public’s intent for how the funds should be spent and examples of the methodology used to show it” and a “great example of how taking it back to the basics can be the solution to auditing something that seems otherwise impossible to audit.”
ALGA publishes articles from local government auditors across the country each quarter. The organization includes more than 350 organizations and 2,200 individual members.
ALGA will formally present the award to Auditor O’Brien at the annual conference in Colorado Springs in May.
Auditor O’Brien also has a new article published in ALGA’s 2018 Spring Quarterly. It focuses on protecting data for the city through IT security and data analytics auditing