If the newly elected Deschutes County Commissioners were watching the Deschutes County Commission’s Wednesday meeting, they got a firsthand look at one of the challenges they face.

It’s about the county’s efforts to combat houselessness, an audit of those operations and how audits should be conducted.

Deschutes County government’s administration refused to provide a substantive response to a county internal audit on the county’s efforts to combat houselessness. It also refused to act on the report’s recommendations.

It wants the county internal auditor to provide a draft of internal audits to commissioners and county departments referenced in the audit “before publication to allow factual review, input regarding relevant context, and feedback.” It worried the audit got things wrong.

The audit summed up its findings as follows: “The County took on a substantial role in addressing houselessness, but governance did not keep pace.…