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First county internal auditor leaving under fire

By Times Staff Writer
Published December 2, 2006

TAMPA - Hillsborough County government's internal performance auditor confirmed this week that she is leaving the job.

Kathleen Mathews, the first person to hold a job that county residents voted to create nearly four years ago to ferret out government waste, came under attack this summer from commissioners, who questioned her ability to manage her three-person staff.

She survived a motion that she be fired in July after receiving mostly poor evaluations from the commissioners to whom she reports. But the board moved to advertise the job, saying Mathews could reapply if she addressed their concerns.

Mathews said commissioners made clear she had lost their support.

"If they had wanted me here, they would not have done that," she said. "It's time for someone else to come in here with new energy and take the reins."

Mathews is negotiating her departure. Under terms of her contract, she is entitled to up to three months of severance pay if she is terminated.

[Last modified December 2, 2006, 00:47:59]