Auditor-Controller Bob Geis handed in his resignation letter last week, and the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved a plan to appoint the office’s No. 2 person to replace him when Geis leaves at the end of the month.
Geis, 62, served in the elected position for 25 years, and has worked for the county since 1979.
He announced his plan to resign and held onto the right to change his mind as he asked the supervisors to appoint Assistant Auditor-Controller Theodore Fallati to serve almost three years of his four-year term that ends Jan. 7, 2019.
Geis said his intent-to-resign letter was “to see if we could get this thing going in the right direction.”
After several closed session Board of Supervisors meetings on the topic, Geis formally submitted his resignation letter to County Executive Officer Mona Miyasato on Feb. 24.
His last day will be March 27, “unless Theo gets run over by a bus or something,” he said.
County leaders insist the vacancy has to be filled by appointment, not an off-schedule election to pick a replacement.
“My understanding is we cannot put this seat on anything other than its normal timeframe,” said Fourth District Supervisor Peter Adam, chairman of the Board of Supervisors.
By statute, Fallati would be the one to take over for Geis if something catastrophic happened, Adam said.
“He’s arguably the most qualified guy in the department; he clearly knows what he’s doing.”
With the promotion by appointment, Fallati’s salary will leap $40,000 to the auditor-controller salary that’s governed by board resolution: $189,763.
That’s not counting additional benefits, which contributed heavily to Geis’ total pay of $279,278 as of 2014.
Fallati made $220,819 in total compensation that year, according to public pay records.
“I don’t see a lot of people getting pay cuts, so I would expect that he’s going to take what the auditor took,” Adam said.
Fallati, 59, has worked in the office for more than 20 years, and has been assistant auditor-controller for nine years.
He meets all the Government Code qualifications for the post, according to the county.
Residency is a requirement and Fallati, who lives in Ventura, recently made a move to West Victoria Street in Santa Barbara to fill that requirement, he said.
“I moved roughly five weeks ago to make sure that issue was off the table,” Fallati said.
Fallati’s CPA license is registered to a Hanford Street address in Ventura, but he’s been a registered voter in Santa Barbara County since 1996, according to County Election Office records.
Fallati hasn’t decided whether he’ll run to keep the seat in 2018, telling the board he wants to “sit in the seat for a while and see how it feels,” he said.
“I truly appreciate their confidence in choosing me to replace him,” he said. “Those are some big shoes to fill but I intend to make my own footprints.”
Fallati has been handed the reins during the county budget season, and one of his first tasks will be picking a No. 2 of his own.
It’s an internal decision and there are “plenty of eligible people in management ranks,” he said.
“That’s an important choice for him, who you pair up with,” Geis said.
“Usually you’re looking for someone complimentary to you… they had strengths I didn’t have,” he said of his own Assistant Auditor-Controllers, John Torell and Fallati.
Geis told Noozhawk he’s ready to retire, and it’s “the right time to transition my office.”
His leaving will give other department employees opportunities to move up, he said.
He has always called the job fun and must be convincing – his son, Robert W. Geis IV, got his CPA license and works in the department.
“For most of his career so far he moved around like other staff, growing in their jobs,” Geis said. “When they start to compete for other jobs, that’s where nepotism could be a problem.”
Geis said, “Robert will be my legacy; he can run for auditor someday.”
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.