Federal Way state Representative Mark Miloscia, a Democrat who has been in the Washington state Legislature for 14 years, is running for state auditor after longtime auditor Brian Sonntag, 61, unexpectedly announced his retirement earlier this year. Miloscia filed immediately to run for the post — the one he feels he is well suited for and the best way he feels he can make a difference in government.

Miloscia, 53, is an engineering graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and a former pilot. He has held a range of professional positions ranging from the director of industrial services for Goodwill to a contract manager for the Air Force and Boeing. He holds graduate degrees in business and was a Baldridge performance examiner.

He is passionate about the role of performance audit to improve government. He said it is key in getting citizens to trust their government.

He says he has been involved in the concept and implementation of performance audits for 25 years, ranging from business to nonprofits and business. He speaks to groups about the process.

His approach is to go beyond a project or department review at the end of a process to “audit as we go.”

The key, he says, is to ensure that managers are invested in quality work and that they hire, train and monitor employees and their work to make performance improvements continuously.

It sounds simple, Miloscia said, but it is not routinely done. And finding out what has gone wrong after the fact is not a welcome sign, he added.

“Being surprised by the findings of an auditor is the worst result,” he said. “It means that managers do not know enough about the workings of their own shop.”

Miloscia promised that if elected, he will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Washington state government to be the best in the nation within six years.

Miloscia has introduced dozens of bills regarding performance auditing and accountability during his time in the Legislature. His first, regarding the state auditor performance auto program HB 1064, was passed well before Tim Eyman’s initiative, one of his first.