David Sundstrom, Sonoma County’s auditor-controller-treasurer-tax collector, to step down next year

David Sundstrom, Sonoma County’s elected auditor-controller-treasurer-tax collector, has announced he plans to step down from his post early next year, about 15 months into his first four-year term in office.

Sundstrom, who was appointed in late 2011 to fill a vacancy in the job, handily defeated Santa Rosa City Councilman Gary Wysocky in the June 2014 election. He was sworn into office Jan. 7 and plans to retire at the end of March next year.

On Tuesday, Sundstrom, 63, indicated his move was driven by pressing family issues. He said his wife has a chronic health condition but declined to elaborate, citing privacy concerns.

“I want to be with her,” he said. “Life is full of uncertainty and change; you have to adapt to the changes. … I’ve worked for 42 years, 38 of them in public service. It’s time for me to be with my family.”

Sundstrom, previously the auditor-controller in Orange County, has held the top financial post in Sonoma County since 2012, after he was appointed by the Board of Supervisors to serve out the remaining term of the longtime auditor-controller Rod Dole, who retired.

His announcement that he plans to retire March 30 will again present the Board of Supervisors with a choice of his successor for the remainder his term, which expires at the end of 2018.

Sundstrom said he would recommend two senior staff members: Donna Dunk, the assistant auditor-controller, and Jonathan Kadlec, the assistant treasurer. Dunk, a now 30-year county veteran, was passed over by the Board of Supervisors for the top job in 2011 in favor of Sundstrom, a choice that at the time was viewed as a major shake-up in the county’s financial leadership after Dole’s 26-year tenure.

Sundstrom, who serves on the board that sets accounting standards for local and state governments nationwide, touted his career experience in his selection interviews before the Board of Supervisors four years ago and on the campaign trail last year. He served 15 years as the Orange County auditor-controller and was previously auditor of the California State University system.

At the time of his selection, Sundstrom assured supervisors he would run in 2014 if the board did not move forward with a move it later dropped - to make the auditor-controller-treasurer-tax collector an appointed chief financial officer position.

When he was elected last year, Sundstrom said he was “ecstatic.”

On the campaign trail, he emphasized the importance of remaining a politically neutral officeholder. The job of auditor-controller-treasurer-tax-collector involves a range of financial and administrative duties, including collecting and apportioning property taxes; managing the county’s $1.8 billion treasury, including school, community college and special district funds; serving on the board of the county’s pension system; and overseeing bond issuance, audits of county departments and accounting practices for the county’s $1.45 billion budget.

The office historically has attracted few political rivalries, unlike other elected positions such as county supervisor or district attorney. The auditor-controller and treasurer-tax collector posts were combined in 2006. Before last year, it had been 20 years since voters last saw a contest for county auditor-controller, and 16 years since they last selected between two candidates for treasurer-tax collector.

It is one of the county’s highest-paid positions. Last year, Sundstrom earned $226,529, payroll records show.

When he began work in the county, he said his first task was to re-establish internal county auditing, a practice that he said had ceased in the mid-1990s.

“When I came here I was amazed that we didn’t do it, so it was my first order of business,” he said. “It’s important to always be looking at ways to improve efficiency and economy of operations, and it’s important to be looking at safeguarding of public resources.”