Maitland council creates auditor selection committee, appoints members

The City of Maitland City Council voted to form an auditor selection committee and appointed members to review and rank proposals for an external auditor.

Council directed staff to prepare a resolution to start the auditor selection process, with one council member serving as committee chair and at least two members of the public on the panel. Staff said the city posted an application on its website to solicit public volunteers and that submitted proposals will be reviewed and ranked by the committee; that ranked list will be returned to council for a final decision.

Vance Guthrie was nominated and confirmed to serve as the council member on the committee and as the chair. Council members named or confirmed to serve alongside Guthrie were Bill Randolph and Lauren Orsbon, and the council added Lori Wirtzel. The transcript records two public applicants who offered to serve: a person identified as Doris (last name is not recorded consistently in the meeting materials) and Teresa Garrett; both were placed on the committee roster as discussed by council.

Staff described the committee’s role as evaluative: it will receive proposals, rank them, and send that ranking to council. Staff noted the committee will be supported by the city clerk and other staff to answer questions and explain the process. Council members said they preferred a manageable committee size and advised against an overly large panel.

The council also approved the consent agenda (items 2 and 3) by motion during the meeting; the motion and second are recorded in the transcript but the mover and vote tally were not specified.

Council members repeatedly emphasized that the selection process must be noticed and open to the public and that committee appointments would follow that noticed process.

The action closes with staff tasked to implement the posted application process and to support the committee as it ranks proposals for the council’s final appointment.