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Toledo hires replacement for fired auditor

Toledo City Council voted Tuesday to hire John Rivalsky as the next city auditor. Rivalsky replaces Jake Jaksetic, who was fired in November.

TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo City Council voted Tuesday to hire a new city auditor.

John Rivalsky is a CPA and has worked as a consultant with CFGI in Boston since 2021, according to his resume. From 2018 to 2021 he worked as a senior financial analyst at Dana in Maumee.

Rivalsky's annual salary will be $123,000. He will start on April 3 and will "serve at the pleasure of city council," meaning he is not contracted to work for a certain length of time, council member George Sarantou, who nominated Rivalsky, said.

Rivalsky got a bachelor's degree in business from Ohio University in 2013 and is pursuing a master's in business administration at the University of Michigan.

Sarantou said Rivalsky's credentials set him apart from the 12 applicants for the auditor position, four of whom were interviewed.

Rivalsky, who has lived in Perrysburg for five years, told WTOL 11 he looks forward to assuming the position.

"I was looking for a new role, something to make an impact on the community and I thought my skill sets aligned well with the city auditor position, it would be a, I would really serve the people of Toledo and make an impact on the community," Rivalsky said.

Rivalsky's resume submitted to council can be viewed below:

Council voted 7-4 to fire former auditor Jake Jaksetic on Nov. 29 after a month-long suspension and turmoil surrounding accusations from Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz's administration about Jaksetic's performance.

Kapszukiewicz had been critical of Jaksetic's work performance, repeatedly saying Jaksetic has never completed an audit since being hired in 2014.

"It does seem like people have gone through some confusion and for me personally, I'm just looking to do the job well, serve the people of Toledo and just put my best foot forward and make a good impact," Rivalsky said.

Sarantou said the hiring of Rivalsky was a decision made for council by council and Kapszukiewicz did not give input on Rivalsky as a candidate.

The mayor complained that Jaksetic did not perform audits and also made vague accusations about the auditor making people in city government uncomfortable.

A review of Jaksetic's personnel file did not reveal any allegations of making people feel unsafe. The file did include emails from city officials and contractors complaining about Jaksetic showing up at job sites and questioning city-funded projects, including the installation of new city water meters.

Council members criticized the mayor for inserting himself in coucil business regarding Jaksetic. Many took issue with Kapszukiewicz’s comments about Jaksetic’s performance. Many particularly objected to Kapszukiewicz’s move to cancel all one-on-one meetings between his administration and council members in recent weeks.

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