O.C.’s Money Counter Knows People Count Most

For David E. Sundstrom, Orange County’s newly elected auditor-controller, it’s not the numbers he likes, it’s the faces behind them.

“When you really sit down and think, 197,000 people voted for me, and start to put faces behind those votes, it’s wonderful,” Sundstrom said. “I keep thinking about Rose Bowls full of people. Actually 197,000 votes, that’s filling the Rose Bowl twice. And they all have entrusted me with the finances of this county. It’s humbling.”

As he prepares for the challenge ahead, Sundstrom, who has never held elected office, exhibits an unrestrained exuberance--some might say naivete--that belies the stereotype of the staid accountant.

“A lot of accountants are accused of not having a personality, but he certainly does,” said John M.W. Moorlach, Orange County treasurer-tax collector and fellow certified public accountant.

In the wake of Orange County’s bankruptcy, the largest financial debacle of its kind in U.S. history, Sundstrom acknowledges that his chief responsibility will be keeping an eagle eye on the $3.4 billion that flows in and out of county coffers each year.

“[The buck] does stop here, yes it does,” said Sundstrom, who noted that while it is the county treasurer who makes investments with public money, it is the auditor-controller and his staff who are legally responsible for tracking every dollar.

But he also has plans designed to promote public confidence.

He proposes posting every purchase made by Orange County government offices, no matter how small, on the Internet. He’s already having computer data warehoused for public review, patterned after a similar program by the state of Illinois.

“If someone doesn’t want the public to know about those expensive new coffee mugs, then they shouldn’t buy the mug to begin with,” he said.

Although his is the signature on every one of the million-plus checks paid out by the county each year for a variety of services and functions, Sundstrom wants to eliminate the paper and transform the entire system to electronic transfers.

This week, sworn in before beaming family members, fellow churchgoers and a few hundred county employees, Sundstrom took a usually unremarked upon, behind-the-scenes post from Steve E. Lewis.

Lewis, a career insider, was thrust into a harsh national spotlight after Orange County was forced to declare bankruptcy. The Orange County Board of Supervisors criticized Lewis for not adequately warning them about the risky investments that led to the county’s financial downfall in December 1994.

Sundstrom, longtime auditor for the Cal State University system, was hired for the newly created post of internal auditor by county supervisors in the wake of that bankruptcy. He said even before taking that on that he had learned volumes by studying his predecessor’s painful experiences.

He did not criticize Lewis, but said it is important as auditor to keep track of the bigger picture, in addition to tracking “every two dollars spent by a supervisor on phone calls, for instance.”

For now, the board seems overjoyed with Sundstrom.

“We got a diamond,” gloated 3rd District Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who praised Sundstrom for performing the “sticky” task of reviewing half a dozen county departments as internal auditor, including housing, the public defender’s office and the courts. Spitzer also noted that Sundstrom introduced “with glee” new techniques for evaluating department morale and staff relationships.

Sundstrom will oversee 370 employees, including whoever is hired to fill his former internal auditor post, but he is still legally the one responsible under state law for preparing certified financial statements. He does not believe the internal audit work should be folded back into his job, preferring a separate layer of review.

Married, a resident of Orange and the father of two boys, Sundstrom definitely has the unjaded zeal and energy of a regular guy who just happens to have won a popularity contest.

Earlier this month, while his young sons romped and explored the drawers and doors of his empty new office in the county government compound in Santa Ana, Sundstrom talked about his rise to elected office.

A native of Berkeley, Sundstrom ran unsuccessfully for a variety of posts at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic High School: student body treasurer, defeated; sophomore class president, defeated; junior class president, defeated; senior class president, defeated.

“And I lost to the same guy every time--a football player. A big hulk of a hunk,” Sundstrom said. “He’s a bouncer in a bar in the Bay Area now. I saw him at a class reunion a few years back.”

As for Sundstrom, he’s determined to keep seeing those faces behind the numbers. A registered Republican, Sundstrom speaks as passionately about making sure timely payments are made to single mothers on public assistance as to big-ticket contractors.

“It’s not the math I like, it’s the people and programs we fund with those transactions,” he said, although he admits he balances the family checkbook and has always been good at that subject many dread.

“The numbers themselves don’t matter. What I want to make sure of is that people are paid fairly, legally and equitably by this county, whether they are big project vendors, or county employees or welfare recipients. Whoever they are, I want to make sure they get their due.”