DuPage board OKs water commission treasurer

The DuPage Water Commission officially has a treasurer. Again.

Bellwood Comptroller Nick Narducci will take over the post immediately after the county board on Tuesday consented to his hiring.

Commission Chairman Jim Zay said the hire is another step in moving past an embarrassing string of financial woes.

Narducci was one of three finalists for the position after retired DuPage County auditor Jim Rasins resigned the treasurer’s post shortly after being hired in January.

Rasins was soon replaced by Glen Ellyn resident Lynn Lullo, a former audit director and finance director in the private sector.

“The commission is moving forward,” Zay said, noting that it recently has paid off around $30 million in debt.

Zay said following Lullo’s defection he asked the commission for new candidates. With no new candidates, the commission went back to Narducci, a Riverside resident, for the $10,000-a-year part-time job.

“We thought this was the best fit for us,” Zay said. “He has tons of municipal experience and a good finance background.”

Rasins’ initial hiring was supposed to be part of a three-tier plan to rebound from an embarrassing series of financial woes that included the commission’s accidental spending of $69 million.

“We have moved forward and the main cog in that was getting our general manager,” Zay said.

Zay said Narducci and General Manager John Spatz Jr. are expected within six months to determine whether the commission will need a chief financial officer or just an every day accountant to handle its financial books.