The city of Columbus has a new chief financial officer.
The council, after about an hour and a quarter in executive session of a special-call meeting Wednesday, unanimously hired James Brigham for the position.
Brigham will be paid $100,000 a year and will start sometime in the next few weeks.
The council has been without a full-time CFO since Deliah Vaughn resigned to take a position with the city of West Point in September. Since then, the job has been filled with part-time volunteers, including Mike Bernsen from Columbus Light and Water and, most recently, accountant Linda Holliman.
Brigham is currently a consultant with ERA King Real Estate in Oxford, Alabama. Until March of this year he was chief financial officer and senior vice president for finance and administration at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama, where he worked with the university’s annual budget and oversaw operational and capital budgets.
He has also served as vice president of internal audit services at PetCo Animal Supplies and senior director for internal audit at the Dollar General Corporation.
He holds a bachelor’s of business administration in comprehensive public accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a master’s in business from the New England College of Business and Finance in Boston. He is a certified public accountant, a certified internal auditor and a certified fraud examiner. He also is certified in financial forensics.
“I’m very excited that the council voted today unanimously to bring (Brigham) in as our next CFO,” Gaskin said. “From the very first time we talked to him, it was clear that he had the qualifications and the experience that matched up perfectly for Columbus right now.”
The position was originally advertised at the same time as the chief operations officer’s job, but the front-runner for the position in that round fell through. At a Feb. 4 special meeting, the council voted to increase the salary offered to $100,000 (up about 25 percent) to match that of the new COO. Last week Mayor Keith Gaskin said the city had received more than 40 applications and that about 20 had met the minimum requirements for the job.
The city has faced a rocky financial road over the past few years. Former CFO Milton Rawle was arrested in August 2020 and charged with embezzling roughly $290,000. In September 2021 a $1.5 million clerical error torpedoed the planned budget at the 11th hour, resulting in the scrapping of a plan for pay raises and unanticipated budget cuts. The city is also facing ledgers that have not been aligned with the actual bank statements, and isn’t sure how much money is in its accounts or even how those accounts are serviced.
Brigham said Wednesday he wanted a challenge.
“The city council and the mayor have been forthright with the challenges,” he said. “… When I left Jacksonville State University, I was really not interested in going somewhere where I was just going to be a babysitter. Here I think there are challenges and I am looking forward to working with everyone to address them.”
He said he had a good feeling about the job in Columbus.
“This is the second time I’ve met with the council, and I have a good feel of these people and of getting along with them,” he said. “The mayor called me yesterday to make sure I understood some of the past and I think he wanted to make sure I wouldn’t get scared off. I’m telling you I like the challenge.”
Brigham said he didn’t have a clear start date because he needs to give notice at his current job.
“Probably within two to three weeks,” he said. “I’m going to guess sometime around tax day.”
Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens said he is “elated” by the hire. He was not on the hiring committee that pared down the resumes and has been publicly critical of that committee for how long the process took.
“This is a major accomplishment,” he said. “What’s really so great about it was there was consensus from the hiring committee. I know I chewed them out a little bit in the past, but this time they done good. We are lucky and blessed to have someone of his caliber.”
Mickens said Brigham was almost overqualified for the job.
“That’s what scared me about him,” Mickens said. “He covers every area that we need. This is going to take a lot of pressure off of everybody.”
Ward 1 Councilwoman Ethel Taylor Stewart, a member of the hiring committee, said she is very thankful for the hiring process’ conclusion.
“When you wait and be faithful, God will answer your prayers and send you what you need,” she said. “I think he will be able to move this city forward.”
“(Brigham) was amazing,” said Ward 6 Councilwoman Jacqueline DiCicco, also a member of the hiring committee. “He’s a numbers man with extensive executive experience but still ‘hands on’ and has a servant’s heart for making those around him the best they can be. And he has forensic audit experience!”
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