Atwater hires a new finance chief

Atwater’s finance department has a new leader at its helm, after the city’s former financial chief accepted a job in another city.

Lakhwinder Deol, Atwater’s new finance operations manager, replaces the city’s financial consultant, Bill Zenoni. After working with Atwater for nearly two years, Zenoni accepted an interim city manager job in Lincoln, according to Atwater City Manager Frank Pietro.

Deol, a Sacramento native, joins Atwater after working as a finance performance evaluator for the State Department of Finance. Deol holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Phoenix and a master’s degree in business administration from California State University, Sacramento.

Though she spent the past two years at the state Capitol, the 33-year-old is not a stranger to Atwater.

“I got married here and my husband lives in Atwater, so we moved here last year,” said Deol, who took over the Atwater job last month.

Pietro said about 10 candidates were considered for the position, but Deol’s qualifications surpassed the others. Atwater faced bankruptcy a few years ago, and Pietro said Deol’s job is critical when it comes to maintaining financial stability.

“I just want to stay on the same path that we’re on now,” the city manager said. “I want to maintain what we have now because Bill (Zenoni) has done a fantastic job with getting us a balanced budget.”

The state Controller’s Office announced in April it would conduct an investigation of Atwater’s finances after the city failed to submit annual financial reports on time for five years and made substantial adjustments to numbers it reported to the state.

The state audit has concluded, Pietro said, and officials will brief Deol and other city officials on the agency’s findings on Monday. Pietro said the city wrestled with an $8 million deficit and won’t climb out of the hole overnight.

Deol will play a major role in keeping the City Council and other officials informed about city finances, Pietro said. “Transparency is a big thing,” he said. “There has been a huge change in the City Council being updated on expenditures and city financial records.”

Deol said her biggest challenge will be learning the ins and outs of her new job, but Zenoni will be on board for another month to train her. “My trainer is not here every day, so I have to jump in and figure it out,” she said. “But I’m ready for this challenge.”

Her other goals include reporting accurate information to the City Council and cross-training her staff of four to increase the department’s efficiency.

“I will try my best not to misrepresent any information to (the) City Council,” she said. “When you’re in accounting, that’s your main goal – that whatever you’re reporting is accurate and true.”

Deol’s annual salary is $74,973 minus the 10 percent furlough subject of all city employees, said Atwater City Clerk Jeanna Del Real. Zenoni earned an average of $6,000 a month for about 40 hours of work, Del Real said.

Contrary to what some people think, Pietro said, he’s convinced Atwater is on the right track financially.

“The city is not bankrupt,” he said. “The city may not have a lot of money in our general fund, but we’re slowly coming out of this.”

This story was originally published September 9, 2014 at 8:25 PM with the headline "Atwater hires a new finance chief."