Finance director is off books

Costa Mesa city officials accepted Finance Director Marc Puckett’s letter of resignation Monday, officially ending his employment with the city retroactive to Sept. 2.

Puckett, 47, of Aliso Viejo, was put on administrative leave Aug. 13 for undisclosed reasons. City officials said it had nothing to do with financial improprieties.

Puckett submitted his letter of resignation late last week, said City Manager Allan Roeder.

“We had been waiting to hear from him,” he said.

The city will pay Puckett only for the window from Aug. 13 to Sept. 2, meaning the last two weeks have been his personal time, Roeder said.

Puckett’s resignation leaves the top financial post in the city vacant. The city will begin searching for a replacement soon, Roeder said.

“As you can imagine with everything that’s been going on budget-wise, finance-wise, just the whole gamut, we just really feel it’s necessary to get someone on board on an interim basis. Certainly to get someone in to provide some additional help,” he said.

Just 11 days after abruptly leaving his post in Costa Mesa, Puckett announced his resignation from the board of directors for the California Municipal Treasurers Assn. He was expected to take over as president.

As finance director, Puckett was integral to the city balancing its budget, which faced a $20-million deficit. He also stepped onto the national stage when he formed a coalition of cities, counties and local agencies that had lost money through Lehman Brothers investments. Costa Mesa had $5 million with the now-defunct bank.

Puckett had been with the city since February 1999.