MALDEN — Former Malden Ward 6 City Councilor Neil Kinnon is one of six finalists for the position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO)/City Treasurer and will join the five other candidates in public interviews before the City Council next week.
The six finalists were chosen from some 175 applicants through a screening process by the Treasurer Search Committee, headed up by Councilor at large Craig Spadafora.
According to parameters put in place when the search committee was formed this past spring, some of the candidates are being considered for what would be the newly-created municipal position of CFO, who would oversee three city departments, treasurer’s office, assessor’s department and controller’s office. Other candidates are being considered for the open city treasurer’s position if the decision is made not to appoint a CFO at this time.
The six finalists are former five-term councilor Kinnon, who works as director of Financial Systems North America at Iron Mountain, which provides secure offsite records storage; present Somerville City Treasurer Michael Bertino; former MBTA chief financial officer Jonathan Davis; Daniel Grover, a Malden resident and manager of mutual fund services for Eaton Vance, a Boston-based investment management firm; Alicia McCosker, present treasurer and tax collector for the city of Haverhill; and Andrew Vanni, former chief financial officer for the town of Middleton and former city of Haverhill finance director.
Other members of the Treasurer Search Committee headed by Councilor Spadafora include Ward 8 Councilor Jadeane Sica and city controller Charles Ranaghan. Malden Human Resources Director Anthony Chiccuarelli is assisting the committee as an additional resource.
The city opened the search for new financial overseer in May when City Treasurer Mark Good resigned in May after serving in that position since 2013.
Discussions on how to replace the vacant treasurer’s post, potentially with a CFO, took place earlier this year between the Council and Mayor Gary Christenson when Good’s intentions became known, but the Council began talk on possibly appointing a CFO since 2009, when the mayor was a member of the Council. At that time, language was added to city ordinances to allow the treasurer, controller, or assessor to hold a dual role as CFO if so deemed by the Council, which oversees the position, June 25.
Duties of the CFO, if this position is appointed, would include overseeing the city’s treasury, controller, and assessor’s departments. The CFO would also work with the mayor’s office on the annual budget as well as future capital expenditure plans.
The city has been advised in the past by the state Department of Revenue (DOR) to consider appointing a CFO, stating this move among recommendations in a report issued in 2011. The report followed an incident in 2009 when a treasurer’s office employee pleaded guilty to theft charges after she stole more than $500,000 in city funds in a check-cashing scheme.
The city used financial management consultant firms to oversee the treasurer’s office from the time of the theft until Good came aboard in 2013. An audit report by an independent firm gave a positive report on steps the city had taken, including a dedicated plan and follow through which increased the municipal cash reserve account since Mayor Christenson took office in 2012.
Public interviews for the six candidates will begin on Tuesday, October 10 and continue on Thursday, October 12 at the Markey Senior Center, 7 Washington St., Malden at 7 p.m.
