Read the full interview below:
Note: this copy has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Bouthier: Can we talk about the timeline and staffing plans for getting set up here in the state?
Storch: At this point it's just me. But we're actively engaged, we got another job announcement out this week. We're going to staff up. We want to do that promptly. Particularly with a relatively small number of slots, we want to make sure that we're getting great people who have the background and experience to do this work well. So, I've got three ‘job ones,’ and that's one of them. Another one is standing up our website and our hotline. I’m trying to time things so that those sort of come together. So, when we hit go on the hotline, we'll have people here who are ready to handle and process incoming stuff. We'll do some sort of public announcement for that too. Then the third: reaching out to some of the government leaders. I don't know people here in Delaware, but I need to get to know them and hear about what their concerns are.
Bouthier: What do you do with concerns?
Storch: It doesn't mean we're automatically going to do something. But particularly as we look to the future, one of the places where IGs can be particularly effective is the investigative part: looking into allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, corruption. Additionally, there's programmatic oversight where we can look at issues that may be examples of inefficiency or ineffectiveness in government work and make recommendations. I know there is a commission here that works on some of that, and we'll reach out to them as well.
Bouthier: Governor Meyer called you, what was it?
Storch: ‘Employee one,’ yeah. We're here in the War Building, furniture is coming. I think it's kind of appropriate that we have this building off to ourselves here on the campus in Dover. We're accessible; we're just a block away from Legislative Hall. I think that's kind of a nice metaphor for the office; we're within reach of the government. But we’re independent of it, and that's where an IG should be. And then we also have space in the Carvel state office building in Wilmington.
Bouthier: Well, is there a goal or a deadline you've been given for your work or getting set up?
Storch: Well, I wouldn't be given it, I'd be setting, right? It's part of the independence. But the answer is as soon as possible. The other thing we'll have is a 1-800 number and also a toll-free number that people can call. And of course, there'll be the mailing addresses in Dover and Wilmington as well.
Bouthier: Working as an inspector general sounds like fulfilling work. From a media perspective, you're kind of perpetually curious. So, getting to do that as your job sounds cool.
Storch: It's interesting you tie it to being in media.
I often think there are definite parallels there and the IG world. We're looking to uncover, to detect, and deter fraud, waste, abuse throughout the government. IGs are positioned within the government. But we're independent of it, which is what enables us to do that work and do it in a credible way. Journalists from outside the government play a really important role in uncovering waste, fraud, abuse, corruption, as well. I think of sort of an ‘oversight mosaic,’ and different folks are part of that. I spent a lot of my life as a federal prosecutor getting to work with agents to uncover crime and put away bad guys. When I first joined the IG community, actually I sort of missed that. Then I really came to realize how powerful the work of IGs can be.
Bouthier: You're coming from having done that work on one of the largest scales, to the second smallest state. I'm wondering how that will inform your work here?
Storch: I've led teams of different sizes throughout my career, from very small up to most recently leading the largest federal OIG at the Department of Defense, which had offices all over the world. The type of work is different in the sense that so much of what you do reflects the agencies and departments you oversee, and here overseeing Delaware State Government is an opportunity really to engage with my team on issues that, are really of immediate importance to people, and to do direct outreach with the public. You need people who are on the front lines, who see things and come forward to let you know when they see something that they're concerned about. That could be people within state government or people in the public. (The IG’s office) has the whole government: everything from the large state agencies, the school boards, everything else within the statute. So, when people see something where they think errors, fraud, waste, abuse, or corruption are happening, we encourage them to report. They can do that confidentially. It's really important that, as IGS, that we protect that. There are some limitations, and we obviously discuss those with people, but we protect people's confidentiality, or people can report anonymously. Those are the people, sometimes, who are in the worst situations. They don't want to identify themselves, even with the predictions for confidentiality.
Bouthier: Are there other protections?
Storch: Let me be clear, we still have to do the independent review. That's incredibly important. The flip of that is we take very seriously any allegations that someone has suffered retaliation because of coming forward. At the Department of Justice, part of my portfolio was to stand up and lead our whistleblower program.
Bouthier: How did you get the Delaware IG job? Did Governor Meyer reach out to you?
Storch: People have wondered about, like, ‘did you know the governor?’ I saw that the job was listed when the legislation that created the office passed, I believe it was last August on a bipartisan basis. There was a bipartisan selection panel from the legislature, people from the executive branch, from the governor's administration, people from nongovernmental organizations, and the public at large who participated in an interview process. They forwarded three names to the governor for selection. I’d never met (the governor) or any of them. I view that as a strength, in the sense that I come to this with no preconceptions. The bipartisan process is incredibly important. One of the key things for inspectors general is that we can't even have a hint of partisanship in our work.
Bouthier: We've got a super majority in one chamber, really close to one in another. And we have a governor from the same party. I'm wondering what that means for you being bipartisan.
Storch: It's just critically important that my team and I review allegations we receive or work we take on our own initiative, based on the facts and the law. Folks may have partisan positions, and they'll do what they want with that when we're done. But we have to be completely divorced from that. I'm not naive enough to think that local issues aren't political. I'm excited about engaging in that level. I haven't done that before. It just accentuates the need for us to be completely removed from partisanship. That's because otherwise our work loses its credibility. It's no longer authoritative, and we might as well not be wasting the taxpayers' dollars.
Bouthier: What does it tell you that there wasn't an inspector general's office in Delaware before?
Storch: I know there's been discussion for a while about creating an office. One of the things the legislation calls for is coordinating as appropriate with other organs and state government that have a piece of the oversight. There's the auditor of accounts, there's the state public integrity commission, the attorney general's office. That's something I'm really familiar with, having come out of the federal system. What you do is coordinate and collaborate where appropriate. But as an IG, we have to be independent as well. I don't draw any particular conclusion from the past, and I think my job is to take on issues as they're brought to us.
Bouthier: I remember you saying data analytics are an increasingly important part of this role. Do you have specific plans in this area?
Storch: As the amount of data has proliferated, we really need ways to be able to handle that. That means both for oversight over the use by the government of some of these technologies, then also using it ourselves in doing oversight. Given that we'll have a much leaner team, we can use technology as a force multiplier. We have to scale it to the size of our office, and we have to use it responsibly, of course, and appropriately, but I do think there's great potential there.
Bouthier: Is there anything that you wanted to talk about that we didn't get a chance to address?
Storch: Two things that I really think we need to emphasize...one of them we've talked a lot about, which is the importance of people coming forward, of whistleblowers. That is the lifeblood of any OIG, is that information. The other thing that I think is critically important that we've sort of alluded to indirectly is the importance of transparency. I'm a huge believer in the power of an OIG to advance transparency in government, and I think that's critically important for people having faith in their government, and it is their government.
