My Take: Recent news highlights need for Inspector General

 It's unfortunate that it took a decade or more to reach this point. It was mainly due to legislators and the executive branch throwing out excuses, such as "more study," or duplication of efforts by the State Auditor and the Attorney General's Office.

 One weakness in that argument is that the AG's office, while able to deal with fraud and other issues in state offices, also serves as legal counsel for the same departments and agencies.

Expanding the auditor's office was one option, but having that function under an elected office would have always cast a shadow over its work.

It took a new governor and the many new faces in the legislature to move forward.

If the Inspector General's Office had been up and running,  the director would have a lot on their plate, including:

• Grants of hundreds of millions of dollars that will come in from now and in the future  the opioid settlement.

• The current property assessment mess has hit New Castle County the hardest.

• The Police Athletic League of Delaware (not Wilmington, Dover or Newark).

• The Port of Wilmington and the proposed container port.

The good news here is that the  office of Auditor of Accounts is more active these days and is beginning to shed its past image as the "fire truck that showed up after the house burned down." Click here for reports from the office.

We have also seen more investigative reporting, with the launch of Spotlight Delaware and continued efforts from legacy media outlets.

In the future, it will be essential for the Inspector General and Auditor to stay in close communication and address the gaps that come with their work.

My hope is that the Inspector General, while ferreting out waste, can also deal with larger policy questions, such as savings from consolidating school districts or combining services such as information technology. - Doug Rainey, chief content officer.