District 158 hires new finance chief

More than a year after Stacie Talbert resigned as Huntley Unit District 158's comptroller, the district has hired her replacement.

The District 158 school board voted 5-2 Thursday to hire Mark Altmayer as the district's new controller.

It is not clear why Altmayer will be a controller, as opposed to a comptroller, but district officials said Altmayer, like Talbert, will not be the district's chief financial officer because he has not held that title before.

Altmayer's hiring fills a key vacancy in a post that has seen remarkable turnover in recent years.

The post has been vacant since Talbert resigned in January 2008, just six months after she was hired. Martin McConahay has filled the position in the interim.

Altmayer has worked in private-sector finance and as a public accountant but has not held a job in public education, district officials said.

Officials said while they would have preferred a candidate with a background in school finance, they were satisfied with Altmayer's credentials.

"He's got very solid private-enterprise experience, plus he has six years of public accounting," board Vice President Tony Quagliano said. "He doesn't have any school-finance-specific experience. The preponderance of his experience will enable him to overcome that."

Only one person with experience in school finance applied out of about 35 candidates who expressed interest, Human Resources Director Lauren Smith said.

District 158 conducted 12 telephone interviews, and top administrators held face-to-face interviews with the top six candidates, Smith said.

The school board interviewed the top two candidates before recommending Altmayer.

However, Altmayer did not win the support of all board members, with Larry Snow and Aileen Seedorf voting against his hiring.

Explaining his vote, Snow compared Altmayer to District 158's former finance chief Paul Halverson, who resigned in 2005 after public outcry over misinformation distributed as part of the district's referendum campaign.

"The candidate's responses in the two interviews reminded me too much of Paul Halverson," Snow said. "You can interpret that any way you want."

Seedorf called the hiring process "flawed."

"I am not satisfied with the way the contract is written," she said. "I don't feel the board is making the right choice at (this) time."

Altmayer was not available for comment Thursday night.

Altmayer will earn $105,000 annually, with the opportunity to earn an additional $2,500 each quarter if he meets performance goals.

He will also get 15 vacation days each year, fully paid medical and dental coverage for him and his family and an annual contribution of $5,175 to his retirement account, Smith said.

With the performance bonuses, Altmayer's contract will cost the district an estimated $137,882 annually.

Altmayer began working for the district as a consultant this week.