TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - Toledo mayor Paula-Hicks Hudson announced the resignation of finance director George Sarantou on Wednesday.
This comes in the wake of the city discovering more than $8 million dollars in the budget.
Sarantou tried to put the conversation to rest a couple weeks ago in a budget meeting. But things everything changed when he submitted his resignation letter.
"While honesty compels me to believe that I was not, in any way, the cause of these issues, my dedication to this great City, compels me to realize that it would be best for the Department of Finance and the City of Toledo if I step down as Director at this time," Sarantou said in the letter.
The former city finance director was Patrick McLean. He served as finance director from Jan. 2010 to Aug. 2013.
Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson, who is in Columbus, released a statement saying:
"I have accepted the resignation of finance director George Sarantou. The city needs to move forward. Director Sarantou has been a colleague and a friend and has always served in the best interest of the city of Toledo. George has taken this course because of his love for the city for which I continue to admire him."
Judge Andy Douglas determined that the $8.2 million found in the budget was dealing with the debt service fund.
"It was definitely a surprise," Toledo City Council President Steve Steel said about the resignation.
Steel says he knows Sarantou well, working with him on City Council, where Sarantou served for 12 years.
He was the Council's Finance Committee Chairman for a decade before he was hired as Finance Director by Mayor D. Michael Collins in 2014.
"I think he always has the best interest of the city in mind. That's why I would say," Councilman Steel said. "I don't think any of this was done for nefarious reasons. I think it was just more keeping your head down and trying to do the right thing."
Council President Steve Steel says moving forward with whoever replaces Sarantou, there has to be better communication between the Department of Finance, Auditor's Office and Council.
"We're supposed to be overseeing the appropriations, overseeing the budget," Councilman Steel said. "We can't do that if we're being told for years that money is for one particular purpose, and that has been wrong all along."
Finance Committee Chairman Larry Sykes says he will meet with the city auditor and an external firm to see what changes can be made to avoid future errors. He says he has also met with the Department of Finance and Auditor's Office.
"From henceforth, we will have a meeting. We will sit down and talk to one another about situations and not point fingers," Sikes said.
He added his hope is that in the future that the administration does not and cannot ever move any money without council knowledge.
Meanwhile, Mayor Paula Hicks Hudson is now tasked with finding a replacement for Sarantou. So far, the city has not announced an interim director
