County auditor position finally filled
EL CENTRO — After more than 16 months, Imperial County finally again has an auditor-controller, an elected position effectively vacant amid a scandal involving its prior office holder.
El Centro accountant Karina B. Alvarez began work Tuesday, the county announced.
“I am honored and grateful for the board for providing me this opportunity to serve our public and instill trust, from both the public and county employees, back into the office of the Auditor-Controller,” she stated in a press release.
Alvarez was appointed by the Board of Supervisors last month to complete the term of Josue Mercado. She was the only candidate who filed for the seat in the June 7 primary.
The move comes at a crucial time as the county ramps up efforts to finalize its budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year that begins July 1.
Though the board formally removed Mercado on March 24 following his conviction and sentencing on felony corruption charges, supervisors had assigned an assistant auditor-controller to the job starting in December 2020 when they censured Mercado for failing to fulfill the duties of the office.
But even Alvarez’s pending appointment hit a snag because of board concerns she also held an elected position on the McCabe Union Elementary School District Board of Trustees. The board voted April 12 to support naming her to the position contingent on a decision by the County Counsel’s office on whether she could hold two elected offices at once.
At the April 26 board meeting, Alvarez addressed the board and said because County Counsel Eric Havens sent her a letter that holding both offices would be “incompatible,” she had decided to resign from the McCabe board and take the auditor’s position.
She was warmly welcomed by the board, which posed for a photo with her, and those accolades continued this week.
“The Board of Supervisors welcomes Mrs. Alvarez into the Imperial County family and looks forward to working alongside her and the department to provide significant support services, including administrative, accounting, audit, payroll and consulting services to our county government,” Board Chairman Jesus Eduardo Escobar stated in the release.
He also lauded Assistant Auditor-Controller Shelly Smail, who ran the office after Mercado was censured “for her dedication and commitment to our county and her colleagues throughout her career.”
Besides McCabe, Alvarez’s governance experience includes the Imperial County Workforce Development Board and El Centro Rotary Executive Board. Additionally, she has been a small business owner in El Centro for nearly two decades. She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration, a master’s in accounting, and is a certified public accountant and certified fraud examiner.
Alvarez resides in El Centro with her husband, Andy Alvarez. They share four daughters.
The auditor-controller is an independent, non-partisan elected office established to oversee the county’s $655.8 million budget and payroll for about 2,400 employees. It handles vendor payments, property tax allocation and distribution, and preparation of the county’s financial statements.