Audit panel picks two to take over

Kington, left, Williams, right

After two hours of interviews, the Knox County Audit Committee on Thursday picked two potential candidates – both work for the Tennessee Valley Authority – to take over the county’s internal auditing department.

The committee selected Andrea Williams, a compliance advisory support senior manager, as the top selection, and Cindy Kington, who serves as the eastern region manager of distributor compliance.

The recommendations will now go to the Knox County Commission later this month for final approval. The committee suggested a salary of $114,100.

Roughly 20 candidates applied for the job, but the committee picked only four to interview publicly on Thursday.

The new internal auditor will oversee a $257,000 a year operation that includes three employees, and routinely looks into and analyzes county finances and various county departments. The auditor reports directly to the County Commission, but also answers to the Audit Committee.

The new auditor will replace Richard Walls who stepped down in August after accepting a severance fee that covered four months of salary.