The Metra Board of Directors today appointed William “Skip” Benz as Metra’s acting chief audit officer (CAO), taking over an internal auditing function that has been handled by an outside auditing firm since 2014.
Benz, who is currently Metra’s ethics officer and associate general counsel, will retain the ethics officer role. Metra has been working to reconstitute Metra’s Internal Audit Department since 2015.
The CAO is responsible for developing and implementing an annual risk assessment to identify and audit risks Metra faces. The CAO also assists the executive director’s office and Metra departments in using best practices of the rail transit industry. The CAO has a dual-reporting line to the Board of Directors and Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno, and will make quarterly reports and updates to the Board and senior management.
“We believe Mr. Benz is highly qualified to take on this critical function for Metra,” said Orseno. “He has the experience, background and independence to help Metra continue to strengthen its corporate governance, transparency and accountability.”
“We want to foster a strong sense of ethics, professionalism, diligence and behavior for Metra staff at all levels, and we are confident that this mission will be in good hands with Mr. Benz,” said Metra Chairman Martin Oberman. “Having a strong check and balance system in our business practices is an important way to demonstrate our commitment to transparency and good government.”
Benz came to Metra in 2013 from the Office of Inspector General for the Agencies of the Illinois Governor, where he served as assistant inspector general for the Regional Transit Board Division since 2010. Prior to 2010, he worked as an attorney in Washington, D.C., for a private law firm and for the U.S. Treasury Department’s Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
Benz received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Arizona in December 1994 and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Indiana - Bloomington School of Law in 2000. He served as a judicial clerk for the Hon. Joe Billy McDade from 2001 to 2003. He also was a Peace Corps volunteer in Belize from 1995 to 1997.
Benz has been accepted to Northwestern University’s School of Professional Studies Post Baccalaureate Certificate program for accounting and finance and is enrolling for the winter term. He is also a certified Compliance and Ethics Professional and will be sitting for the Certified Government Auditing Professional certification in November 2016.
Metra hired the Chicago-based Bronner Group, a well-respected and experienced auditing firm specializing in government work, to manage the internal auditing function at Metra on an interim basis starting in 2014. Their contract will expire at the end of 2016, with Benz assuming the CAO role effective January 1, 2017.
