Interim city chief operations officer Mark Alexander Jr. will transition from full-time to part-time or “as needed” starting Nov. 1.
Alexander began volunteering, for no pay, as interim COO shortly after Keith Gaskin was sworn in as mayor July 1, replacing the retired David Armstrong. He originally estimated he would stay on for three to six months while the city looked for a permanent replacement — a process that remains undone.
Alexander notified Gaskin early this month of his intent to bump back to part-time. Gaskin notified the council on Monday.
“I’ve enjoyed it,” Alexander told The Dispatch on Wednesday. “I’ve worked with wonderful people who love Columbus and want to see Columbus do well. I hope the city can hire a good accountant and COO to get a clear picture of city finances.”
During Alexander’s tenure, he helped prepare the city’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget, including finding an error in the original proposal 48 hours before it would have passed that would have caused the city to operate unknowingly at a $1.5 million deficit. He has also dealt directly with city department heads and departmental evaluations.
“I’ll never be able to thank Mark enough for his service,” Gaskin told The Dispatch. “Mark brought a unique talent to that role, and I can’t imagine not having him here my first three months in office.”
In September, Chief Financial Officer Deliah Vaughn left the city for a job with the city of West Point. Gaskin brought in former CFO Mike Bernsen to work on a part-time interim basis, also as an unpaid volunteer.
The mayor also announced plans to unveil a new organizational chart for city employees — which would, among other things, replace the COO with a higher-paid chief administrative officer with an accounting background, as well as replace the CFO with a treasurer/clerk position. To date, he has not presented that to the city council, which has voted twice in the past two weeks to begin advertising for the COO and CFO positions “as-is.”
Gaskin said on Wednesday he and the council are planning to schedule non-voting work sessions, and he intends to present the council his comprehensive organizational chart at the first of those work sessions, whenever that occurs.
Even if the council doesn’t approve of Gaskin’s entire reorganization plan, he hopes it will at least reconsider his vision to reconfigure the COO/CFO positions.
Whoever comes in next, and whatever duties the new CAO or COO take on, Gaskin said Alexander’s work facilitated a “much easier climb for the next person.”
Alexander said his work isn’t done either.
“I’ll still be around, helping as I can,” he said. “It just won’t be (as many hours).”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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