Woman Suing Guv Hired by Controller

(Sean Whaley/Nevada News Bureau) – Nevada State Controller Kim Wallin today announced the hiring of an accountability officer to oversee the reporting of the state’s $2.2 billion in federal stimulus funds.

Mary Keating, formerly an administrative services officer with the Department of Health and Human Services, will serve in the position and ensure the reporting follows transparency and accountability requirements of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“I am very happy Mary Keating has agreed to accept the position of the ARRA Reporting & Accountability Officer,” Wallin said. “Her background and wealth of knowledge in grants management, financial reporting, analysis, auditing, budgeting, internal controls and cost allocation will allow her to hit the ground running in helping the state to report and accurately account for the ARRA funds.”

Keating has 26 years of service with the state and most recently was involved in ARRA grant reporting for HHS. She is a certified public accountant. She will earn approximately $102,000 a year in the position.

Keating is also a former staff member for Gov. Jim Gibbons who filed a wrongful termination lawsuit naming the governor over claims she was forced from her job because he thought she leaked information about his use of a state cell phone to send hundreds of text messages to a woman he described as a longtime friend. Keating at the time was overseeing Gibbons’ office expenditures as part of her position.