Malden's fiscal tracking system could be ready in July
City Controller Domenic Fermano hopes to launch financial tracking software in his office and the Treasury Department by the end of July, in the wake of an embezzlement scandal involving a former Treasury employee that shocked local residents.
Fermano told the City Council's Finance Committee on Tuesday that the program will come from SoftRight, a Westford-based company that provides management software for local governments.
Cost estimates weren’t immediately available on Tuesday. In addition to the programs for the controller and treasurer’s offices, the city plans to launch software programs for the city payroll and vendor database, among other areas.
About 50 communities in the state use SoftRight, Fermano said, including Medford. He said officials in that city have used the company’s software for about five years.
“It’s a very easy tool to learn,” Fermano said.
Residents clamored for a tool – and a staff shakeup – after ex-Treasury employee Gia Marie DeSantis was arrested last year for stealing more than $500,000 from city coffers with the help of several accomplices.
During private executive session meetings last summer, the Council found that her office kept spotty, handwritten records for many transactions. Councilors pledged to order new software for the department, and look into pulling municipal accounts from Eastern Bank.
They also announced the suspension of an unnamed, high-ranking official in connection with the scandal. Part of the suspension was unpaid, and records indicate that Treasurer-Collector Frank Vacca did not receive a paycheck during the first week in August – right after the suspension was announced.
Vacca is currently on medical leave.
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