Agency’s help aids Risch’s decisions

BOISE – Gov. Jim Risch has shaken up several state agencies in his first four months as governor, and behind many of the moves, the governor has cited the analysis of a little-known forensic chemist who came to Boise from northern India.

Rakesh Mohan, director of the Office of Performance Evaluations, the state’s auditing agency, has, rather improbably, become one of the most trusted men in Idaho government.

In June, Risch announced a major revamping of the Department of Health and Welfare, one of the state’s largest outfits. He ousted former director Karl Kurtz and named a new director, Richard Armstrong.

At a news conference, Risch gave reporters and staffers two reports prepared by Mohan’s auditing agency that highlighted low employee morale at Health and Welfare, as well as failing substance-abuse treatment efforts directed by that agency.

When Risch tapped Jim Tibbs as the state’s new drug czar, he referred to an audit by Mohan’s office that called for more cohesion between state and community substance abuse efforts. “I have a high level of confidence” in the auditing agency’s work, Risch told the Idaho Statesman through a spokesman, adding the office plays “a valuable role in protecting Idaho taxpayers.”

Though his name may not resonate with the public, Mohan and his eight-person office have garnered considerable clout among the state’s policymakers.

The Legislature has taken notice, granting the Office of Performance Evaluations two Notable Document awards for a cost-analysis of the Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind in Gooding and an audit of the federal government’s use of Social Security numbers.

In August, the office received accolades from the National Conference of State Legislatures, topping other similar watchdog agencies across the nation that evaluate state programs.

“Those are the kind of below-the-scenes things in the Legislature that people don’t really know anything about,” said state House Speaker Bruce Newcomb, R-Burley, who co-sponsored the 1994 legislation that created the office. “Rakesh, he is just a fantastic individual, and he’s so smart, and he knows how government works.”