Newly elected City Auditor's qualifications

[Tora]

In an ariticle entitled "Doerflinger is ready to serve Tulsa" in the Tulsa Beacon he said one of his companies was going to do $100 million in revenue this year.  

http://www.tulsabeacon.com/?p=3039

Somebody has to know where that $100 million company is and who works there, don't you think?

Tulsa Beacon: Doerflinger is ready to serve Tulsa 
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 and is filed under Front Page Stories.


An Oklahoma native, Doerflinger founded his first business when he was only 24 years old, and he has since started six more businesses. Doerflinger holds a bachelor's degree in organizational leadership and is a registered respiratory therapist.

His smallest company will do $500,000 in revenue this year and the largest is on schedule to do $100 million in revenue.

"My job in these companies is to ensure the financial viability of these entities, up to and including internal audits and coordinating external audits," Doerflinger said.

"When I was looking for a role to run for public office, for me, it's important that you match the skill set to the job. And this was a place where I felt I could have the most impact."

I wonder if PLD Management Inc is the $100 million company owned by Mr. Doerflinger that was mentioned in the Tulsa Beacon article.  If so that would put its revenues right along side these other small businesses on the FSB 100 list. (of course the FSB 100 are publicly owned small businesses that don't operate out of a residential neighborhood)

These Oklahoma companies on the list.  (state rank, name, FSB 100 rank, Location, # of employees, revenue)

1 North American Galvanizing & Coatings 12 Tulsa 400 $86.1million
2 Apco Argentina 25 Tulsa 21 $69.1million
3 Orchids Paper 35 Pryor 306  $90million
4 Xeta Technologies Inc. 100 Broken Arrow 361 $84million
From the July/August 2009 issue of Fortune Small Business magazine

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb/fsb100/2009/states/OK.html

[rwarn17588]

Tulsa Beacon: Doerflinger is ready to serve Tulsa 
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 and is filed under Front Page Stories.


An Oklahoma native, Doerflinger founded his first business when he was only 24 years old, and he has since started six more businesses. Doerflinger holds a bachelor's degree in organizational leadership and is a registered respiratory therapist.

His smallest company will do $500,000 in revenue this year and the largest is on schedule to do $100 million in revenue.

"My job in these companies is to ensure the financial viability of these entities, up to and including internal audits and coordinating external audits," Doerflinger said.

"When I was looking for a role to run for public office, for me, it's important that you match the skill set to the job. And this was a place where I felt I could have the most impact."

I wonder if PLD Management Inc is the $100 million company owned by Mr. Doerflinger that was mentioned in the Tulsa Beacon article.  If so that would put its revenues right along side these other small businesses on the FSB 100 list. (of course the FSB 100 are publicly owned small businesses that don't operate out of a residential neighborhood)

These Oklahoma companies on the list.  (state rank, name, FSB 100 rank, Location, # of employees, revenue)

1 North American Galvanizing & Coatings 12 Tulsa 400 $86.1million
2 Apco Argentina 25 Tulsa 21 $69.1million
3 Orchids Paper 35 Pryor 306  $90million
4 Xeta Technologies Inc. 100 Broken Arrow 361 $84million
From the July/August 2009 issue of Fortune Small Business magazine

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb/fsb100/2009/states/OK.html

Doesn't it strike anyone that this so-called vetting is coming a few weeks too late?

[Tora]

Doesn't it strike anyone that this so-called vetting is coming a few weeks too late?

Too late to find out the truth?

Of course the election is over and Preston Doerflinger is the new City Auditor.

This thread is simply an attempt to discover if anyone can corroborate the statements about Mr. Doerflinger's business experience which were made by him and repeated by the news media as fact by, most notably, the Tulsa World in their endorsement of Mr. Doerflinger.

[Conan71]

Why weren't you asking these questions beforehand, and what is your obsession with Preston Doerflinger, other than his weird last name?

[Tora]

Why weren't you asking these questions beforehand, and what is your obsession with Preston Doerflinger, other than his weird last name?

I work overseas and only return to my Tulsa residence once or twice a year.  As a result I generally do not have time to keep up with what is going on in my hometown and only learned of the election after the fact.

Phil and Emily Wood are family friends (more so my mother's than my own) and I suppose I just expected him to win again based on his years of service and obvious qualifications (not forgetting his age).  I understand, now, that many Tulsans question his handling of the Tulsa firefighters probe.

Nevertheless, when I read that he had lost and read the information about the man to whom he lost I was intrigued.

When I read about Mr. Doerflinger's education and that he had several businesses I did what to me seemed the logical thing to do, which was to search online.  When I couldn't find any information (other than Mr. Doerflinger's own words about the businesses) or company websites, etc. I posted here.  

I also contacted the Tulsa World, since they endorsed him, to ask if they had researched his resume, most importantly his businesses, prior to printing their endorsement.  They informed me that they had more information but chose not to print it in their endorsement and were not inclined to make it available to me.

This experience has made me question how the news media gets its information and how political endorsements are decided.  It seems to me that the job applications submitted by teenagers wanting a summer job are more thoroughly scrutinized than those of people running for public office.

Preston Doerflinger seems like a very nice man with a very nice family.  I hope he does a good job as City Auditor but I also hope that what he said and was said about him in the media during the campaign can be backed up with verifiable facts.

[Conan71]

Well thanks for taking off the cloak and letting us know what your motivation is.  You were starting to get treated like a crank.  I could understand you wanting to know more.  Honestly, an 84 year old auditor, the FD training audits, people dissatisfied with huge gov't spending and complicated property transactions.  They are just saying it's time for a new set of eyes and experience.  I think Phil had a quiet little fiefdom and no one really thought about why he was auditor, he just was and we were obligated to vote for an auditor.  The FD issue and Public Works payola scandal helped highlight what this job does and does not do.  I'm sure he did a great job, but anytime someone has a job for 21 years, there are parts of it which become jaded and necglected.

With all due respect for Phil Wood, whom I met, I like, and whom I voted for multiple times, it was time to turn him out.

[custosnox]

Something else that should be kept in mind is how little campaigning Wood actually did.  I saw and heard a lot of Doerflinger, but hadn't heard anything on Wood all the way up to time to vote.  I'm not saying that there wasn't any, just that if there was, it was a lot more low key then the opposition.

[sgrizzle]

Something else that should be kept in mind is how little campaigning Wood actually did.  I saw and heard a lot of Doerflinger, but hadn't heard anything on Wood all the way up to time to vote.  I'm not saying that there wasn't any, just that if there was, it was a lot more low key then the opposition.

I heard one commercial and it made him sound VERY old.

He should've funded his campaign by selling "I WOOD" t-shirts at Dwelling Spaces...

[Tora]

Something else that should be kept in mind is how little campaigning Wood actually did.  I saw and heard a lot of Doerflinger, but hadn't heard anything on Wood all the way up to time to vote.  I'm not saying that there wasn't any, just that if there was, it was a lot more low key then the opposition.

That is exactly the point.  A lot was said about Preston Doerflinger but was it accurate?  Did Tulsans really elect a successful business entrepeneur who as the Tulsa Beacon said,

"could make more money simply running the successful businesses he has founded. But like the Founding Fathers, Doerflinger is willing to sacrifice his time and resources to make Tulsa a better place."

http://www.tulsabeacon.com/?p=3031

I think the jury is still out on Mr. Doerflinger's businesses.

[Conan71]

That is exactly the point.  A lot was said about Preston Doerflinger but was it accurate?  Did Tulsans really elect a successful business entrepeneur who as the Tulsa Beacon said,

"could make more money simply running the successful businesses he has founded. But like the Founding Fathers, Doerflinger is willing to sacrifice his time and resources to make Tulsa a better place."

http://www.tulsabeacon.com/?p=3031

I think the jury is still out on Mr. Doerflinger's businesses.

At least if we are not happy with his performance, we can vote him out at the end of his term.

[Steve]

At least if we are not happy with his performance, we can vote him out at the end of his term.

Very true.  It will be interesting to see if he even meets the new qualification standards come the next election.  I would assume that to be a certified internal auditor, one must complete a 4-year accounting degree and pass a series of national exams, just like CPA certification.  One used to be able to sit for the CPA exams based on work experience, but I think that is no longer the case; a degree is required. 

I find it very interesting that Tulsans voted in the new certification requirements for auditor, then elected a man that does not meet these qualifications.  Then again, nothing much surprises me anymore.  I voted yes to the new requirements, and I voted for Wood.

[shadows]

If all the information that has been submitted on the businesses of the elected auditor; why in the hell would he be interested in a city operated under the "Know nothing, say nothing, hear nothing", tottering on the edge of bankruptcy?.  One could believe his cup runth over already.