Cranston council taps Coventry CPA as city auditor

Feb. 06--CRANSTON -- The City Council has elected certified public accountant Christopher J. Hallstrom as city internal auditor, a generally low-key position that nevertheless became a focal point in last year's mayoral election.

He stepped in after CPA Stephanie M. Medeiros declined her nomination.

"She wanted to shy away" from politics, said council president Michael J. Farina.

Hallstrom described himself to the council as a lifelong political independent and "taxpayer advocate." Farina said last week that he has known the Hallstrom family for about 10 years, and he has extolled Christopher Hallstrom as "a straight shooter."

"I want someone who will take an independent look and at no time will" epitomize the "I-know-a-guy mentality," Farina said.

Hallstrom, a Coventry resident, holds two business administration degrees from Johnson & Wales University and is a certified member of the Institute for Professionals in Taxation with a concentration in income tax. His accountancy focuses on tax advice for individuals and businesses and he is new to municipal finance.

The auditor is an employee of the council, which has a 5-to-4 Republican majority that took office Jan. 2. Another CPA, Anthony C. Moretti, had occupied the part-time post previously, when there was a 5-to-4 Democratic majority.

The work of the internal auditor became a political flashpoint when former Democratic council president John E. Lanni Jr. assigned Moretti to estimate and keep track of the financial costs of Police Department scandals and litigation.

Michael J. Sepe, a close friend of Lanni's, tried to make political hay of the scandals in his unsuccessful election campaign against Republican Mayor Allan W. Fung. That inflamed Republicans on the council, who accused Moretti, a onetime Republican council candidate, of exaggerating the financial costs in order to benefit Lanni and Sepe.

Moretti insisted his analysis was objective.

Farina said recently that Moretti was paid an annual salary of $30,000 plus city-subsidized health insurance, but that his successor would have reduced compensation.

That evoked a protest from Moretti, who said he was paid significantly less than $30,000 and that he took health insurance for only two years of his three-year employment.

According to Moretti, his pay stubs prove that he was paid a salary of $13,960 in calendar year 2014, $18,440 in 2015 and $21,860 in 2016, or an average of $18,087.

Farina said last week that he cited Moretti's salary from the 2016-2017 fiscal year budget and that he had no way of knowing that Moretti actually was paid lesser sums.

Since his replacement as internal auditor, Moretti was appointed by the council Democratic leader to the city Board of Contract and Purchase.

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