After top candidate backs out, council selects new city auditor
City Council had to revisit its process for hiring a new city auditor at its regular meeting Monday because the top candidate chosen from among three finalists withdrew his name from consideration.
At its Feb. 6 meeting, council members voted to begin negotiations with T. Paul Tomoser to fill the position scheduled to be vacated by retiring City Auditor Margaret Krym. According to consultant firm Mercer Group senior vice president W.D. Higginbotham, Tomoser was offered the job shortly after that council meeting and wanted to discuss it with his wife. Later that night, Tomoser called and withdrew his name.
“After talking it over with his wife, he did not feel the job was a good fit,” said Higginbotham. “He told me it did not fit his long-range goals at this time, but he liked the city.”
At first, Tomoser and candidate Andrea Butola had split the council vote evenly. After much discussion, Councilmember John Carioscia changed his vote in favor of Tomoser.
Council elected to make another choice between the remaining two candidates, which included J. Bradley Simmons. Again, council was evenly split between the two until Councilmember Richard Leon flipped his support to Butola.
The motion was made to begin negotiations with Butola, who everyone on council agreed had the most advanced degrees and had experience in managing a team of auditors and professionals.
Krym, who refused to name any candidate to break the tie, did offer council some insight.
“Simmons has no experience supervising a staff and that is important to me and to the job City Council is seeking,” Krym said. “Andrea has that experience and that is a plus for being part of a team.”
Since council does not meet next week, they discussed options in the event that Butola turns down the position. It was agreed that should that take place, negotiations then would be shifted to Simmons.
Krym has set Feb. 28 as her date of retirement, which creates the possibility that the city could go for several weeks with no one in that position.
When asked if she would recommend someone in her office to serve as acting city auditor Krym offered, “No one in her office applied for the job for their own reasons, but Feb. 28 is a self-imposed date for retirement. I would be willing to stay on for a few more weeks or a month but not for longer.”
Higginbotham said he would return to council’s workshop meeting on Feb. 27 with an update.