(A) (1) The Committee, through its staff, shall accept applications from candidates, interview candidates, and shall submit to the City Council the names of the three candidates (or more in the event that candidates are tied in ranking) that it finds to be the best qualified to be City Auditor indicating its ranking, together with a general description of its selection process, and the City Council shall appoint the City Auditor from the three. The Committee's recommendation to the City Council shall be based on the candidates' integrity, capability for strong management and demonstrated ability in accounting, auditing, financial analysis, law, management analysis, public administration, investigation, criminal justice administration or other closely related fields. Experience, performance, certifications, and advanced degrees may also be considered.
(2) Upon the expiration of four years from the date of the City Auditor's last appointment by the City Council, the Committee shall submit three candidates to the City Council for its consideration for appointment to the position of City Auditor, or in lieu of recommending three candidates to the City Council, the Committee may recommend to the City Council the reappointment of the incumbent City Auditor. Should the City Council decline to reconfirm the incumbent City Auditor, the City Council President will notify the Committee that it needs to provide the City Council with three alternate candidates pursuant to the provisions of subsection (A)(1).
(B) If a current or prior city employee or official is appointed to the position of City Auditor, such person shall not audit or assist in the audit of the department or agency where such person previously served or was employed for a period of four years from the last day of such prior employment or service. Any audits of such department or agency shall be referred by the City Auditor to an independent third party auditor who shall serve as an independent proxy for the City Auditor, vested with the full authority of the City Auditor only for the purposes of the specific audit(s) so assigned, and who shall report to the Committee relating to the audit in the same manner as the City Auditor would under this article. If a current or prior city official, contractor, or employee is one of the three recommended to the City Council for possible appointment, the Committee shall submit to the City Council a statement describing its assessment of possible conflicts or appearances of conflicts, if any, that may result during the fulfillment of duties as City Auditor if that candidate is appointed.
(C) As a condition of retention, the City Auditor must obtain certification as a Certified Public Accountant or Certified Internal Auditor through the appropriate entity within two years of appointment. Other professional certifications, such as certified fraud examiner and certified information systems auditor are recommended.
(D) Prior to submission of the final three candidates to the City Council, the three City Auditor candidates shall be fingerprinted and shall provide two fingerprint cards or the equivalent electronic fingerprints to the Committee to obtain the candidate's Federal Bureau of Investigation record. Records and related information shall be privileged and shall not be disclosed to anyone other than Committee members. The city shall pay for the cost of obtaining the Federal Bureau of Investigation records.
(E) The City Auditor may be removed from office for cause upon an affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the members of the Committee; upon an affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the members of the City Council; or upon the City Council's decision to not reconfirm the City Auditor pursuant to subsection (A)(2) of this section. For purposes of this section, cause may include, but is not limited to, conduct that is inconsistent with obligations under this article, or otherwise inconsistent with responsibilities to the Committee. Within five days of removal of the City Auditor the Committee shall report the reasons for that removal to the Mayor and the City Council.
(F) If the City Auditor position is vacated, the City Auditor's first assistant shall serve as Acting City Auditor during the vacancy, subject to Committee discretion.
(Ord. 1-2005; Am. Ord. 39-2007; Am. Ord. 30-2010; Am. Ord. 2013-003; Am. Ord. 2016-018; Am. Ord. 2023-020)