I was very pleased to see that common sense and letter of the law prevailed and no criminal charges will be filed regarding the audit of the North Dakota Department of Commerce. I am amazed it took six months to arrive at this conclusion.
While I am currently a ND Economic Development Foundation Board member and vice-chair of the LIFT Committee, I have been involved, in some way, with our Department of Commerce since the department was launched. The leadership we currently have is outstanding.
Commissioner Kommer and her team know how to move the needle quickly and get things done. The extraordinary support and leadership to help North Dakota companies through the COVID black swan event is second to none. Having to waste their time and personal resources on this investigation is a disgrace.
The fact that there was even a question that someone broke a law bothers me. I am in favor of audits, but prefer the “added value audit” instead of the “gotcha audit.”
I hope our state policy makers look at what has happened and make changes to avoid a repeat. The ND Department of Commerce is an integral part of attracting and retaining business in our state and needs to be focused on getting our state’s economy up and running again. I am glad they are now able to focus solely on their jobs and not some frivolous investigation that could cost the taxpayers of North Dakota and individuals involved over $100,000.
