Skip Moore is hoping to become new county auditor

If this were a regular chain of command, chances are the next-in-line employee would take over Evelyn Arnold's spot as county auditor. In this case, Chief Deputy Auditor and Cashmere councilman Skip Moore would be the one.

But the spot left behind by Arnold, a onetime business manager in Cashmere who has been tapped to become the King County Elections Chief, is an elected position.

Therefore, Moore and any others wanting a shot at the job have to go through the Republican Party of Chelan County. Arnold ran as a Republican, so the post will be filled by a member of the GOP.

The party will submit three names to the Chelan County Board of Commissioners, which will then choose.

The chosen person would hold the office until Nov. 2010, which is when it's up for re-election again.

Moore said he will apply for the position. If chosen, he would hold two elected offices at the same time.

State law forbids a name from appearing more than once on the same ballot, except in the case of parties' precinct committee officers (PCOs). But Moore said this would not affect him. As a councilman, he is up for re-election in odd years and as county auditor, he would be up for re-election in even years, he added.

Moore is running unopposed for re-election to city council this year

Moore said he has looked into the possibility of a conflict of interest, as well.

"There isn't any. The auditor has no dealing with cities individually," he said. "Nothing specific to the duties of the auditor would prohibit being on a city council."

It would be different, Moore said, if he were county commissioner, where sometimes decisions that counter a city hall's point of view are made.

"The county auditor does not supervise the city," Cashmere mayor Gordon Irle said.

The role of auditor differs from his current county job, Moore said, in that the former makes policy and the latter implements it.