Whitfield names Vaughn sole finalist for finance director post

Published 9:01 am Friday, August 31, 2012

The Whitfield County Board of Commissioners has chosen a Dalton woman as the sole finalist for the position of finance director.

Alicia M. Vaughn, who has worked as a senior accountant and assistant finance director for the city of Dalton since March 2007, will go before the commissioners for final approval.

Vaughn is a 1994 graduate of the University of Georgia, where she received a bachelor’s degree in accounting.

While working for the city of Dalton, she earned a Government Finance Officer Certification from the Carl Vinson Institute at the University of Georgia in 2010, which included extensive course work in all aspects of governmental accounting, including auditing, debt administration, treasury management, budgeting and the preparation of governmental financial statements.

“I am a graduate of the Whitfield County school system and a lifelong resident of Whitfield County and feel that this position would be a wonderful opportunity for me to further my career in governmental accounting,” Vaughn said. “I have a strong commitment to the area in which I live and would be privileged to have the opportunity to give back to the county in which I was raised.”

Her responsibilities for the city of Dalton include supervising the city’s financial operations, including accounts payable, payroll processing, cash receipts and many other key financial functions. She has worked closely with the finance director to develop and oversee the city’s budget and manage the city’s investments to ensure proper collateralization is achieved and funds are available for daily operations.

Vaughn previously worked for First Bank of Dalton from 1995 to 1998 as assistant vice president and from 2005 to 2007 as Internet banking/bill pay coordinator. She was owner and chief financial officer of Exclusive Catering by Barbara in Dalton from 1998 to 2005.

She and her husband Gandi, who is an attorney with the law firm of Mitchell & Mitchell, have two daughters, Gracen, 13, and Gillian, 9.