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CITY OF PINE BLUFF INTRODUCES ITS NEW INTERNAL AUDITOR

By Erin France/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Friday, September 19, 2008 11:48 PM CDT

Pine Bluff has a new addition to its staff: Internal Auditor Alan Pyron.

Alan Pyron, at his desk Wednesday afternoon, is Pine Bluff’s new Internal Auditor. Pine Bluff Commercial/Ralph Fitzgerald

Pyron’s employment was announced at the Pine Bluff City Council’s Monday meeting.

He formerly worked as the senior internal auditor for the First Tennessee Bank and served in several roles, including internal auditing, for Harrah's Entertainment Inc.

“I’m new to government: I’ve always worked in private industry,” Pyron said. “I’m still trying to get my feet wet.”

After a few weeks of training, Pyron will develop an Internal Control Risk Assessment, a document pinpointing areas where the city’s controls could be improved.

The city’s hiring comes during an ongoing U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development investigation concerning the divestment of federal funds to Progressive Southeast Arkansas Housing Development Corporation, whose questionable business practices and expenditures were first published in a May 25 article in The Commercial.

“We're looking at basically implementing different types of controls throughout city government,” said Steve Miller, the city’s finance director. “There’s clearly a need to evaluate internal needs and risks.”

Pyron said he will observe employees under the city government’s umbrella and assess an individual’s job duties.

“The biggest part of my job will be to identify risk,” he added.

A risk is an assessment of various situations that is, or could become, a problem.

Pyron’s hands-on observation will be coupled with a look at similar cities’ division of civic responsibilities, including the handling of funds, in order to implement controls.

Mayor Carl A. Redus Jr. said Pyron was the man for the job because he had the most experience out of the possible candidates.

“He had background in all the things that we wanted to do,” he said.

The city had an internal auditor about two years ago, but the position went unfilled until Pyron was hired, Miller said.

Pyron moved to Pine Bluff from Fort Payne, Ala. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in criminal justice with a minor in accounting from the University of Alabama, and a juris doctorate from the University of Memphis.

The city will start Pyron at $45,000 per year.

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