NEW!! LAST RADIO INTERVIEW WITH AUDITOR DWAYNE SAWYER JUST ADDED!! Dwayne Sawyer, the African-American Hendricks County resident who rose from being head of the Brownsburg Town Council to become Auditor of the State of Indiana resigned suddenly after being in office less than four months. Sawyer was appointed by Governor Mike Pence August 15th 2013 to succeed Tim Berry who had left the office to become Indiana Republican Party Chair. In his letter of resignation, Sawyer said, “Due to family and personal concerns, I have come to the conclusion that it will be in the best interests of my family and the people of Indiana who I have been honored to serve that I resign from the office of Indiana auditor of state.” In a statement, Gov. Pence said, “I have accepted Dwayne Sawyer’s resignation as Auditor of State effective December 15, 2013. His reason for resigning had to do with personal and family circumstances, and I respect his decision to step aside. Hoosiers can be assured that Mr. Sawyer’s resignation had nothing to do with his fiduciary responsibilities for the state or his execution of his duties as Auditor. This office will always be grateful for Mr. Sawyer’s service and wish him well in his future endeavors.” Sawyer was the fifth African-American to hold a statewide elected office. The previous four, all Democrats, were Dwayne Brown (Clerk of Courts), Pamela Carter and Karen Freeman-Wilson (Attorney General) and David Lewis (Clerk of Courts). Sawyers was the only Republican. On Friday, November 15th, just ten days before his resignation, Auditor Sawyers appeared on our Friday program that was part of the Mozel Sanders Radiothon. We talked with him about the job and the office. There was NO indication from Sawyer that something was amiss. The interview begins with Sawyer answering my question of what does his office do. Click Arrow Below to Hear Dwayne Sawyer’s last media interview before his sudden resignation. Runs 5 Minutes. ©2013 WTLC/Radio One. Sawyer had worked in software development for Positron. Prior to that he’d worked for Roche Diagnostics, Dow AgroSciences and Eli Lilly and Company. Sawyer was a member of the Brownsburg Town Board and Town Council President and active in GOP politics as Secretary of the 4th District Republican Committee and is a member of the Hendricks County Republican Party’s Executive Committee. A Purdue University graduate, Sawyer is married with three children. Under Indiana’s Constitution, State Auditor is Indiana’s Chief Financial Officer, responsible for accounting for all of the state’s funds; overseeing and disbursing county, city, town and school tax distributions; paying the state’s bills and paying the state’s employees. The State Auditor is also responsible for administering the state’s Deferred Compensation Plan. Under Indiana’s Constitution, Gov. Pence must appoint a new State Auditor to serve the term which ends at the end of 2014.
