CLAYTON 鈥 The St. 亚洲无码 County Council on Monday was forced to restart its search for a financial watchdog after the finalist for the job to replace embattled County Auditor Mark Tucker turned down the job because it didn鈥檛 offer enough pay and benefits.
The candidate, a certified public accountant with federal government experience, turned down the $110,000 offer and noted that he didn鈥檛 want to work the minimum seven years required to qualify for a pension, said Councilman Mark Harder, chairman of a council committee hiring for the job.
Harder, R-7th District, and four other council members who attended a committee meeting Monday declined to offer details about the candidate, including his identity, after a county attorney warned them that certain personnel matters, including hiring negotiations, were not public record.
The rejection underscored the limitations the council faces in trying to replace Tucker: how to attract better qualified candidates to a position that is a political appointment and one of the few countywide positions that reports to the council. In September, Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway issued a report that was sharply critical of Tucker, blaming lax oversight by his office for allowing abuses by former County Executive Steve Stenger to go unchecked.
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A former health care lobbyist, Tucker had no auditing experience when the council, led by then-Council Chairman Sam Page, appointed him in February 2017 after the county cut ties with the former auditor, David Makarewicz. Page succeeded Stenger as county executive in 2019. Tucker鈥檚 annual salary is $85,000.
Galloway鈥檚 report last year noted Tucker produced a total of just six audits after three years on the job, and it criticized the council for failing to ensure Tucker was qualified or used his office to investigate financial concerns. At the time of his appointment, dissenters raised concerns that Tucker lacked the five years of accounting experience required by the county charter. And the charter did not require a degree or certification.
The council took up Galloway鈥檚 recommendation to require better qualifications and voted in April to require its next auditor be accredited as a certified public accountant, a certified internal auditor or a certified local government finance officer.
But on Monday, the council reversed course and eliminated the CPA requirement after discussion about whether it was necessary and whether the county could afford to pay for the qualification. While the finalist rejected the job over pay, at least one applicant for the job had dropped out because they didn鈥檛 meet the accreditation requirement, Harder said.
Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, D-5th District, and Councilman Tim Fitch, R-3rd District, suggested the council have a serious discussion about further raising the pay to meet the qualifications. Fitch told the council a friend with the accounting firm Anders CPA told him the county couldn鈥檛 expect to hire an auditor with accreditation for anything less than $135,000.
鈥淢y fear is that you鈥檙e not going to pay enough and you鈥檙e going to attract someone with the same qualifications, or lack thereof, of Mr. Tucker,鈥 Fitch said.
But Councilwoman Rita Heard Days, D-1st District, and Councilman Ernie Trakas, R-6th District, rejected the idea, noting that many county employees haven鈥檛 received raises in years. Trakas suggested instead that the the council remove the requirement for the auditor to be a CPA or the equivalent of the accreditation. The county, Trakas said, never heard complaints about auditors before Tucker.
鈥淚f you didn鈥檛 want $110,000, that speaks to how much you wanted the job,鈥 Trakas said. 鈥淚鈥檓 absolutely certain that a continued search will yield qualified candidates, CPA or not.鈥
The council ultimately agreed to Harder鈥檚 suggestion to advertise the position again with the preference that its next auditor have accreditation but remove it as a requirement. That will require action by the full council, which could come at its meeting on Tuesday.
The council also decided to raise the salary range, increasing it to a maximum of about $125,000.
The council had initially advertised a starting salary of between $100,000 and $119,000, basing the range on expected budget limitations, Harder said. And Harder said he would reach back out to the other five applicants for the job.
Tucker, who did not apply to continue his role, has not responded to multiple requests for comment.