Sharon Judkins out as city’s deputy chief administrative officer

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) -- The River City is looking for a new top financial officer to oversee Richmond’s IT department.

Tammy Hawley, Mayor Dwight Jones' press secretary, confirmed that Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Sharon Judkins' last day on the job was Friday.

Job postings on the city's website shows a listing for the Deputy Chief Administration Officer for Finance and Administration.

According to a job posting on the city's website Sunday, the position deputy chief administrative officer has "oversight responsibility for the Finance and Administration portfolio, which includes the Departments of Finance, Budget and Strategic Planning, Procurement, Information Technology, the Office of Risk Management, Human Resources and any additional areas."

Judkins came under fire inDecember of 2013 for rejecting all of the recommendations made by the city auditor regarding the Richmond Department of Information Technology's $18 million information technology system (RAPIDS). However, she later reversed course and accepted three out of the seven recommendations.

Sharon Judkins

Judkins rejected all of the recommendations made by the auditor saying they are already in place and criticized the auditor’s tactics.

Additionally, the April 2012 internal audit found that the city's finance department was an office that “needs improvements” to fix “poor customer service.”

Judkins admitted that the office has had its struggles in an interview with CBS 6 reporter Joe St. George in November of 2012.

“We have had several problems in the area of finance,” Judkins said.

Some of those problems include understaffing. In the last five years, five people have held two senior leadership positions in the Department of Finance.

RAPIDS is software designed to streamline city finances, but, according to the audit, employees were not properly trained on the system, invoices were not being paid on time and employee leave was not being calculated accurately.

A fired contractor on a city project told CBS 6 in May of 2012 that he lost his job after blowing the whistle on waste and abuse he had observed on the job.

However, the contractor alleged mismanagement of project funds, hiring unqualified staff and accounting errors in overtime pay for city employees during implementation of RAPIDS.

The contractor's allegations prompted an audit that Judkins eventually asked to be halted.

Stay with WTVR.com and CBS 6 News for the latest on this developing story.

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