ASHEVILLE – Dan Keister’s hiring as internal audit director in the beginning of 2022 was the start of Buncombe County’s aspirations to build a bolstered oversight department. Two years later, the department has no permanent employees, derailing its watchdog efforts.
Strengthening the county’s audit committee was part of Buncombe’s effort for providing additional transparency, accountability and developing public trust in the wake of the Wanda Greene scandal, according to a September 2023 email from spokesperson Kassi Day to the Citizen Times. Greene was a longtime county manager who orchestrated a wide-ranging bribery and kickback scheme, landing her in federal prison.
By the middle of 2022, the three-employee department presented a report to the Board of Commissioners indicating that the internal audit team found 12 departments were at “high” operational risk. Based on that risk assessment, Keister planned a series of audits, some focusing on the county’s riskiest departments.
The audit department’s staff has since shrunk, according to a Feb. 5 email from Day. One employee transferred to another department in March 2023. Keister departed Buncombe County in July 2023, according…
