Santa Rosa lures CFO out of retirement a second time

<p>Santa Rosa once again has tapped its former finance chief to help it out of a jam. </p><p>Bruce McConnell, who retired as head of the finance department in 2005, has been hired to temporarily fill a vacancy in the finance department. </p><p>The City Council last week approved McConnell working as the interim financial reporting manager while the city recruits for the position. It expects to hire someone to fill the post on a permanent basis by the fall. </p><p>The city is preparing for its annual audit and needs someone familiar with the city's accounts to work with auditors, according to a staff report. </p><p>McConnell will make about $54 per hour with no benefits or perks, said Human Resources Director Fran Elm. That's the equivalent of $9,445 per month, or $113,340 per year. </p><p>That's in addition to his pension of nearly $122,000 per year. </p><p>A new state law aimed at tightening the rules under which CalPERS retirees can go back to back to work for public agencies required the council sign off on the agreement.</p><p>It also prevents retirees from getting certain benefits, such as telephone or car allowances, Elm said. </p><p>It's the second time McConnell has come out of retirement to crunch City Hall numbers. When CFO David Health left in 2010, McConnell returned as interim CFO while the city searched for its new CFO.</p><p>That took six months. During that time, McConnell made $154,000 per year above and beyond his pension.</p>