Five vie for Lynn comptroller post

LYNN – Chief Financial Officer Richard Fortucci and Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy will hold five back-to-back interviews today with the goal of filling the city Comptroller position that’s been vacant for nearly seven months.Fortucci fired then-comptroller John E. Pace in early June for overpaying himself $507.10 a week for roughly six weeks. The incident began when Pace was temporarily named CFO after Fortucci was forced to step down and face a hearing on his conduct brought by Kennedy.Fortucci prevailed and was reinstated as CFO. However, Pace continued to pay himself the CFO stipend along with his regular salary for more than a month after he shifted back into his comptroller role.Fortucci said he was eager to fill the slot.”I’m looking forward to the interviews,” he said. “It’s been a long time, but it is a process.”According to Jamie Cerulli, Kennedy’s chief of staff, three of the candidates hail from Lynn and one is from out of state and all are aware of the city’s residency requirement.The candidates include John A. Couillard, Stephen T. Spencer, both of Lynn, John J. Sanguinet from Plymouth, Donald R. Arthur from Glenmont, N.Y. and Pamela Hinkle, who is also from Lynn and currently the assistant comptroller.According to the city’s website the comptroller is responsible for making sure the city complies fiscally with all local, state and federal statutes, regulations and other mandates, and adheres to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles “and sound internal control procedures as prescribed by Generally Accepted Governmental Auditing Standards.”Kennedy said she is also looking forward to hiring a new comptroller and closing the door on both the Fortucci and Pace hearings.In the case of Pace, at least, hiring a replacement will not completely end the city’s troubles concerning those hearings. When he was fired, Pace filed a lawsuit against the city claiming it violated the Whistleblower Protection Act. The city countered, suing Pace seeking repayment of funds.City Solicitor Michael Barry said depositions on the suit should begin this month.Kennedy and Fortucci, along with Mary Gentlemen, a state liaison who works in the comptroller’s office, will conduct the interviews between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. and, according to Kennedy, they are closed to the public.”I don’t think we’ll make an offer to anyone Thursday,” Kennedy said. “I think we’ll conduct all the interviews then process it all for a bit.”Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].