Today, Secretary of State Tobias Read officially appointed Steve Bergmann to serve as the director of the Audits Division in the Secretary of State’s office. Bergmann brings decades of broad audit experience in both the public and private sectors, including more than ten years working for three different State of Oregon agencies.

“During my campaign, I promised the people of Oregon that I would take a fresh approach to auditing in the Secretary of State’s office,” said Secretary Read. “My goal is to build an audit team laser focused on improving the performance of state government. Steve has the background, skills, and experience to help us achieve that goal. This work is about delivering better results for the people of Oregon, not chasing headlines or advancing political agendas.”

Bergmann is currently the Business Services Director for the Secretary of State’s office. Previously, he led audits at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Oregon Department of Revenue. Before his time with the State of Oregon, he worked for several accounting firms serving clients in the banking, nonprofit, and government sectors.

“I appreciate the Secretary’s confidence and look forward to restoring faith, stability, and reliability into the audits division,” said Bergmann. “The Secretary has asked me to focus on establishing a transparent and data-backed risk assessment methodology, maximizing the capacity of all the audit team’s resources, and producing audits that help agencies improve their performance. I cannot wait to get started.”

Bergmann will begin serving in his new role on January 13, 2025.