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For Immediate Release
Statement from City Manager Chris Hillman regarding the departure of CFO Scott McCarty
Surprise AZ (June 19, 2012) Surprise City Manager Chris Hillman read this statement at today’s City Council Workshop:
Mayor, members of the Council, as I have been informing you over the last few hours, Chief Financial Officer Scott McCarty has informed me that he will be departing Surprise to take on a new position as the Finance Director of the Town of Paradise Valley. His last week will be the week of July 2. This represents an important transition point for Surprise as we bid goodbye to an excellent colleague who has served the city extraordinarily well.
Scott leaves Surprise in much better financial condition than he found it when he arrived just two years ago. He has had a tremendous and deeply positive impact on the City of Surprise, and we are well positioned to address our financial challenges and move forward. Our FY13 budget is complete, our spending plan for the next 12 months is in place, and our two-year vision for restoring our general fund reserves is underway. Thanks in large part to Scott and the work of his staff, Surprise is open for business, with a leaner city government and much improved financial outlook.
He has made a personal decision to take on a new position and all of us respect that decision and wish him the very best.
In his two years with Surprise, Scott has a remarkable record of achievement, including:
- Top to bottom reorganization of the Finance Department.
- Scott saw that the department needed to be better positioned to support the financial workings of our city departments, and realigned resources to make it more responsive.
- He saw that the city needed a more robust approach to internal financial analysis and spearheaded the drive to create an internal auditor position.
- On a bigger scale, Scott brought forward significant internal financial issues that required fundamental change in our oversight and management of development fee funds.
- Because of his diligence and vision, we have embarked on a course to achieve balance and resiliency in our internal finances.
- The path is not an easy one. In large part due to respect for Scott’s integrity and expertise, Council has felt comfortable making the tough decisions and taking the right direction on behalf of our community.
- Because of his commitment to detailed and public reviews of our situation and our path forward, the Council and the community are better informed than ever of the state of our finances and our future plans.
- Due to his professionalism, the city developed and the Council adopted 43 distinct financial management policies which will inform our fiscal management for years to come.
- During the course of dealing with challenging, complex and urgent financial challenges, Scott has been invaluable to the Manager and the Council, providing guidance and insight. His recommendations have been astute and highly respected both internally and in the community.
With the recent departure of Assistant Director John Ralston for a new position in California, the Finance Department finds its two top positions temporarily vacant. But that does not mean it lacks leadership.
After a significant test (a trial by fire if you will) dealing with the consequences of our FY11 audit, the team in Finance assembled a budget that reduces costs, holds the line on taxes and fees and at the same time makes our services more efficient. The Finance Department team is a highly effective, well functioning unit. Assistant City Manager Jeff Mihelich and I look forward to working with them as we begin the recruitment process, which will get started immediately.
I want to thank the Finance staff for their great work, and assure the community that we are in the best of hands with the Finance team on the job.
It has been a great pleasure and a true learning experience working with Scott, and I know I speak for many of us in city government and in the community when I say thank you for all you have done, and very best of luck to you and your family in the future.
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