Thursday, Sep. 04, 2008

Supervisors appoint Merced accountant as county auditor

By CORINNE REILLY
creilly@mercedsun-star.com

Lisa Cardella-Presto, a certified public accountant and Merced native, will take over as Merced County's auditor-controller in January, the Board of Supervisors decided this week.

Cardella-Presto, 35, will replace Stephen Jones as the county's top financial officer. Jones announced plans earlier this year to retire mid-term in January. Cardella-Presto will finish his term, which ends in 2010.

If she wants to keep the job past then, she'll have to win the post in an election.

The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to appoint Cardella-Presto, who has taught accounting at Merced College since 2006.

Before that she worked as a CPA at two firms, first at Clendenin Bird & Co. in Modesto for about a year and then at Roberts & Allan CPAs in Merced for five years. At both jobs, Cardella-Presto audited local government agencies.

In an interview Wednesday, she said she looks forward to serving the public. "My goal is to do an excellent job for the taxpayers of Merced County," Cardella-Presto said. "I hope to make the county experience an even better one."

She said she plans to run in 2010 to keep the position.

The auditor-controller, typically elected to four-year terms, serves as the county's top financial officer. Jones and his predecessor also served as the county's clerk, recorder and chief elections officer. Under a restructuring plan approved by the Board of Supervisors last month, those duties will no longer fall to the auditor-controller beginning in January.

Cardella-Presto will oversee roughly 25 employees. Her position comes with a yearly base salary of $151,000.

She'll begin the job Oct. 6, providing some overlap before Jones' departure. She'll be formally sworn in as the county's auditor-controller in January.

Cardella-Presto holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo. She is treasurer for Merced's Del Corazon Guild of Children's Hospital Central California and a founding board member of the Catholic Professional and Business Club, based in Merced.

Ted Allan of Roberts & Allan said his firm was always pleased with Cardella-Presto's work. "She always did a great job here," Allan said. "She's very competent. I think she'll serve the county very well."

Cardella-Presto lives in Merced with her husband and two children. Her family attended Tuesday's board meeting, where the decision to appoint her was formalized. Her father, David Cardella, served as the county's elected assessor between 1977 and 2006.

"Ms. Cardella-Presto is an excellent addition to the county and we look forward to her future here," Board of Supervisors chair Kathleen Crookham said in a statement.

Jones, 60, has worked for the county for 32 years. He was first elected auditor in 2002. He announced plans to retire earlier this year.

Though county CEO Dee Tatum often disagreed with Jones, Tatum said the discord provided important checks and balances. "He has carried a yeoman's load, and so did his predecessor," Tatum said. "And we're thankful for that."

He described efforts to find Jones' successor as a "grueling process." The county advertised the job for more than six months before scheduling interviews, Tatum said.

In related news, the Board of Supervisors also voted unanimously this week to reappoint the county's lead attorney, James Fincher, to a second four-year term. "I think he's done an outstanding job," supervisor John Pedrozo said. "He's dedicated, not only to his office, but to the whole county."

Reporter Corinne Reilly can be reached at (209) 385-2477 or creilly@mercedsun-star.com.