Jan Jutte, the 30-year veteran of the state auditor's office has been named as Troy Kelley's temporary replacement as he takes an unpaid leave of absence to fight the federal charges against him. The Seattle Times reports that on Monday Jutte, the director of operations, will take responsibility of overseeing the auditor's office, as Kelley begins his leave. And if the old adage about those who do not seek power being the most equipped to wield it is true, Jutte is looking just fine. She was originally scheduled to retire this Thursday, but instead extended her contract to October 2016 before the indictment. She says she will not run for office if he steps down and will not continue past her retirement date next year.
While Jutte probably expected a calmer run-up to her retirement, she is taking her new responsibility seriously. "We will weather through this, things will calm down and everybody will see us as the stellar agency that we are," said Jan Jutte in a statement Thursday, reported by The Olympian.
And while not commenting on whether her former boss is guilty or not, she did express her surprise at the charges."The man that I worked for for over two years is not what I'm reading in the papers, not what I'm seeing in that indictment," Jutte said. "Innocent until proven guilty."
