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The Palo Alto City Council is preparing to appoint Katherine Murdock of the firm Baker Tilly to serve as the new city auditor, according to an announcement from the city.
The council plans to vote on May 6 to appoint Murdock, the city announced. She will be the third Baker Tilly auditor to serve in this role since 2020, when the City Council eliminated the city auditor’s office at City Hall and to outsource its function to the Chicago-based firm.
She will succeed Adriane McCoy, who resigned earlier this year.
“On behalf of my Council colleagues, the appointment of Kate Murdock as our City Auditor and the continued focus of the internal audit services through Baker Tilly, continues our commitment to internal auditing, transparency and accountability in government,” Greer Stone, mayor of Palo Alto, said in a statement. “Kate’s experience as both auditor and risk analyst roles in local government and municipal utilities will serve Palo Alto well and ensure the continuation of auditing best practices.”
The city auditor is one of four positions in Palo Alto — along with the city manager, the city attorney and the city clerk — that is directly appointed by the council. The city’s agreement with Baker Tilly allows the firm to present candidates for the city’s choose from.
A three-member council committee recently met in a closed session to discuss the appointment and selected Murdock, who had spent 11 years in municipal governments and utilities before joining Baker Tilly, according to the city.
Prior to joining the firm, she had worked in risk analyst roles at Austin energy, the office of City Auditor and the city of Sunnyvale and has experience performing internal audits and performance audits for local governments and municipal utilities.
“I look forward to working with the Palo Alto City Council and City management to advance the City’s internal audit priorities in my capacity as City Auditor,” Murdock said in a statement.