As Expected, Louisville Courier Journal Endorses Todd Hollenback For Re-election As Kentucky Treasurer. Next Up, Adam Edelen, Then Jack Conway, Then Steve Beshear.

Editorial | Endorsements 2011: Re-elect Todd Hollenbach as Kentucky state treasurer

This is another in a series of endorsements in races for Kentucky statewide offices contested in the Nov. 8 general election.

Kentucky state treasurers have tended over the years to bill themselves as the state’s chief fiscal officer.

Well, maybe technically, but not really. They aren’t the state budget director. They don’t have the power of the purse strings exercised by the governor and legislature. They don’t decide how much money gets spent and where.

Instead, the state treasurer is more akin to the person who keeps the checkbook. The treasurer is head of the treasury, manages the state depository, makes records of money due and payable to the state, and makes payments on behalf of the state. That’s not a position with policy control, but it is one that needs to be done carefully and accurately.

Fortunately, Kentucky voters have a choice between appealing and qualified candidates this year.

Of these, the Democratic incumbent, Todd Hollenbach IV of Louisville, gets our endorsement.

Mr. Hollenbach has taken his responsibilities seriously and performed well. His oversight of the state’s financial accounts is sound, his office has worked hard to make use of technology to improve efficiency, he has been dutiful about trying to return unclaimed property to rightful owners, and he is committed to some helpful, non-statutory efforts, such as offering a financial literacy program.

Mr. Hollenbach’s prior public service consisted of five years on the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, testament to his commitment to important principles of equal rights and opportunity.

There is simply no compelling reason to replace Mr. Hollenbach after just one term, and there are solid grounds for returning him to office.

His Republican opponent, K. C. Crosbie, a member of the nonpartisan Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council, has accused Mr. Hollenbach of mismanaging accounts during his term, something that she says was confirmed by state Auditor Crit Luallen’s office.

Actually, Ms. Luallen, who has endorsed Mr. Hollenbach, found that problems at the beginning of his term in reconciling the state’s bank accounts were due to implementation before he arrived of a new computerized accounting system. She reported that Mr. Hollenbach’s office had made progress in the reconciliation process and said more recently that state accounts are now reconciled for the first time since 2006.