***CONFIRMED***
MADERA COUNTY AUDITOR MARCIA HALL CLEANED OUT DESK AND EMAILED STAFF & BOARD OF SUPS "YOU DON'T DESERVE HIM, MAYBE YOU DIDN'T DESERVE ME EITHER."
***CONFIRMED***

 MADERA -  It's Miller Time in Madera County as Merced CPA Marcia Hall gets smacked in the nose with the football of truth; the voters did not want her as the Madera County Auditor. When the first absentee ballots were counted Tuesday night, Oakhurst CPA Todd Miller was leading the race by double digits and all night long his percentages never changed.

While the vote is still unofficial until it has been certified by Madera County Clerk Rebecca Martinez, Miller crushed Hall with 8087 votes to the appointed auditors 6155 or 56.6% to 43%. Even though four out of five of the Madera County Board of Supervisors, the Sierra Star and Madera Tribune supported her candidacy, the voters saw through all the smoke and mirrors and chose the most qualified candidate.

REPORTED FIRST ON BIG VALLEY NEWS
WHY WAIT FOR THE OTHERS TO PLAY CATCH-UP?

According to Hall's latest disclosure statements, the auditor raised $21,500 in this campaign of which $15,554 came from loans from her unemployed nineteen year-old son and her husband, a Gustine High School PE coach. Of the remaining $6000 in donations, only $345 came from people who actually live within Madera County.   As of May 17th Hall's campaign had an outstanding debt of $15,644. Miller's campaign out-spent Hall nearly two to one.

In January of 2012 Marcia Hall was appointed to complete the term of former Auditor/Controller Janet Kroeger by a unanimous vote from the Madera County Board of Supervisors. However no one advised Ms. Hall at the time that as an (appointed) elected official, she had to live in Madera County in order to hold that position.

It took Hall over a year to find a house in Madera County to rent. It was never really established that Hall and her husband actually moved into their rented house  in Chowchilla. Hall would give the board of supervisors updates on the progress she was having finding a house and after a while it appeared to be a running joke between the auditor and board.

During the election Big Valley News asked questions about a property tax exemption Hall and her husband were taking on the house they owned in Merced. The exemption was created to give home owners an exemption on $7000 of the value of their primary residence. Hall maintained that she had not taken the exemption and that she turned over her interest in the house to her husband. Both assertions by Hall were proven to be false by a public records search in the Merced County government center.

Hall refused to comment on any of our questions Tuesday night. Miller thanked the voters of Madera County for the confidence they placed in him and hoped that Hall would complete her term in office with professionalism, finishing up the job she started two years ago. According to Miller, Hall had not called him as of midnight Wednesday morning.

Big Valley News has confirmed a report that sometime early Wednesday morning, Madera County Auditor Marcia Hall cleaned out her desk in the government center and emailed her staff at fifteen minutes after midnight that she would not be returning to work.

"The citizen's of Madera County have spoke. I cannot stay under the circumstances of these results. You don't deserve him but maybe you didn't deserve me either. You are a great office and you work so hard to help this county. It is time for me to leave and start a new chapter in my life. I am heartbroken but I know you are strong. Work with Price, Page -- perhaps they can assist with more than just Elaine. Thank you for the priviledge of being your Auditor-Controller.", Hall wrote after cleaning out her desk.

Mrs. Hall authored a second email later Wednesday morning to the board of supervisors that thanked them for appointing her and that she was very close to her goal of getting the auditor's office back on track. "The behavior of some of the elected officials in this County have made it clear that it would not be healthy for me to stay", Hall ended her resignation email to the board and CAO Eric Fleming.

Madera County Board of Supervisors Chairman Tom Wheeler issued the following statement,  “It is with great regret that our Board accepts the resignation of Madera County Auditor Controller Marcia Hall. Mrs. Hall was an integral part of our County team and was instrumental in improving internal controls and accounting procedures. We wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors.  In the coming weeks, the Board and the County Administrative Office will work closely with the Auditor’s Office to ensure operations continue to function smoothly.”

Hall, who is holed up in her Merced county home, has refused to answer any of our calls.

In other races in Madera County, Chowchilla Police Chief Jay Varney led Madera County Undersheriff Michael Salvador by 10%. Former Madera Police Chief Mike Kime came in a distant fourth place down by over 20%. Varney and Salvador will face each other in November's general election.

Miranda Neal played the spoiler to Oakhurst attorney David Linn and Madera County District Attorney Michael Keitz. Neal held on to 20%  of the vote denying Linn and Keitz a chance at securing a fifty percent plus one win. In the end Linn lead Keitz by nearly six percent or gathering 42.8% percent of the vote. Both Linn and Keitz will also face off in Novembers general election.

Absentee ballots dropped off at the county polling sites and provisional ballots are still to be counted.

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