Mark Roberts was appointed by Salinas City Manager Steve Carrigan as the city’s new Finance Director.
He will begin leading the Finance Department on July 28.
“We conducted a national search for the city’s finance director and I believe that Mark Roberts has the knowledge and experience to lead and modernize the city’s financial activities,” Carrigan said, according to a press release.
Roberts comes from National City, Calif., where he also served as the city’s finance director. In total, Roberts has 25 years of experience in areas such as developing annual budgets, fiscal administration ordinances, and assisting with strategic planning.
The former head of the department, Matt Pressey, is retiring. His last known salary was $166,752 per year.
According to the city’s description of the position, here are some things the finance director should be able to do:
- Develop and install sound accounting, information systems and procedures
- Analyze and solve complex fiscal problems
- Promote the mission, values and standards of an effective public organization
Handling the city’s budget is an incredibly important part of the role as well, considering the amount of attention that was given to the $170 million-plus fund. The passing of the 2021-2022 budget this past June was a close call, with three of the seven city council members voting it down.
Finances were paid especially close attention to this year primarily because of the police budget, for which there was much public commentary. Aside from the yearly budget discussions, there’s also a mid-year budget review.
Angelica Cabral is a journalist and podcaster for The Californian covering a wide variety of topics from movies filmed in Monterey County to how much political candidates have fundraised. Have a tip for an interesting story? Email her at acabral@gannett.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @avcabral97
