2 city auditor finalists to be interviewed; DelSignore retiring in Jan.

• Position: LOCAL NEWS

Byline: Nick Kotsopulos

WORCESTER - The search for a successor to City Auditor James A. DelSignore is nearing completion, as the City Council Municipal Operations Committee has come out with two finalists for the job.

The three-member committee is recommending to the City Council that Russell J. Bethoney of Walpole and Sean McGourty of Shrewsbury be interviewed.

Both candidates come from jobs in the private sector.

Councilor-at-Large Michael J. Germain, chairman of the Municipal Operations Committee, said the committee's recommendation will be presented to the council tomorrow night.

He said the two finalists could be interviewed by the council as early as Dec. 4.

The auditor's job is one of three positions in the city government that fall under the jurisdiction of the council - the others are city manager and city clerk.

Mr. DelSignore, who has been city auditor since 1991, is retiring when his contract with the council ends Jan. 8.

"We really don't have that much time, so we'd like to see the council move on this as soon as possible," Mr. Germain said. "We'd also like to allow time for a transition from when we select someone to when (Mr. DelSignore) leaves."

Mr. Germain said about 30 people applied for the job.

He said the Edward J. Collins Center for Public Management at UMass-Boston, which assisted the council in its search, reviewed all the resumes and came up with about 14 viable candidates.

A screening committee, made up of the Municipal Operations Committee and city officials, narrowed the field to five, and those names were presented to the committee.

Mr. Germain said the committee ended up interviewing three of those candidates before making its recommendations.

Mr. Bethoney operates his own accounting and business consulting firm.

He said he has more than 20 years of experience, which include about 15 years in public and five in corporate accounting. He has extensive experience in accounting, systems administration and financial management and the design, evaluation and re-design of internal controls.

Mr. Bethoney has also worked as an audit manager for Grant Thornton, Wolf & Company, PC, and Ercolini & Company, LLP, all based in Boston. He also worked a controller at City Group Management Co. in Boston, as well as a senior accountant at Yale University and an associate accountant at Coopers & Lybrand.

Mr. McGourty, meanwhile, has more than 24 years of experience in accounting and finance.

He said he has managed...