Dallas will begin looking for a new auditor as the search for a permanent inspector general continues.
City auditor Mark Swann announced his retirement after serving six and a half years in the role “to spend more time with [his] family,” according to a Jan.14 memo to the City Council. His last day will be March 17.
“As I approach retirement, I have mixed feelings about leaving many friends and staff behind and future goals unmet,” Swann said in the memo. “I will always be grateful for the opportunity to serve four two-year terms as City Auditor for the City of Dallas.”
The City Council’s finance committee was scheduled to discuss the next steps Monday, but the meeting was canceled because of the snow storm.
Political Points
Officials, per city law, will pull together a five-member commission with backgrounds in auditing and financial oversight to nominate a candidate for the City Council to consider.
The auditor, whose team analyzes the city’s performance internally, is one of five City Council-appointed roles at City Hall. The others are the city manager, attorney, secretary and the inspector general.
Officials have renewed their search for an inspector general candidate after the city botched the process last year. In hiring Timothy Menke for the role, they overlooked a key voter-approved job requirement that called for experience as an attorney.
Menke was let go shortly after he began work, and Baron Eliason, the former chief integrity officer, was appointed as the interim. Officials are reviewing search firms for the permanent position, steering clear from using the recruiting firm MGT that they used for Menke.
Swann joined the city auditor’s office in 2019 and has previously been the chief audit executive in the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County in Tennessee. He has also worked as the interim city auditor for the city of San Antonio.