AUDITOR TO RETURN TO USING MAIDEN NAME; PATRICIA AWADA NOW PATRICIA ANDERSON

Saint Paul Pioneer Press

Author: AMY SHERMAN, Pioneer Press

Dateline: EAGAN

State Auditor Patricia Awada will now use her maiden name, Anderson, since her divorce was finalized Friday.

Divorce records filed in Dakota County District Court on Friday state that "there has been an irretrievable breakdown of the marital relationship" but provide few details because the findings of fact were sealed.

In December, the auditor and former Eagan mayor announced that she had initiated divorce proceedings.

Anderson and Michael Esau Awada each will spend half of the week in their Eagan house with their four children, ages 6 to 15, and split the costs of the mortgage and child rearing, according to the divorce records.

As the auditor, Anderson earns about $107,000 while Awada earns about $60,000 as a self-employed commercial real estate broker, according to court records. Neither party was awarded spousal maintenance.

Anderson and Awada were each awarded 7,500 shares of stock in NewTel Holdings, parent company to telephone company New Access Communications; half of the stock in Capitol Cos., a direct-mail firm Anderson owned before she became auditor; and 100,000 shares of stock in AVRE, LLC, a real estate holding company.

The auditor's spokesman, Tony Sutton, said she would add AVRE to her annual statement of economic interest when it comes due later this year.

The court order also states that they will sell a residence in Arizona and a condo in Eagan.

Anderson and Awada married in 1990. She is now 37 and he is 40.

During the 2002 campaign, the candidate used the name Pat Anderson Awada, although after she was elected she went by the name Awada.

Amy Sherman covers Dakota County public safety and government. She can be reached at asherman@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-2174.