“His department is on pause,” Caldarelli said. “(Bigger) sent all councillors an email about a month ago saying he wouldn't be bringing anything forward until after the election.”
And with him in the mayor's race, the only other person in Bigger's department – Senior Auditor Vasu Balakrishnan, who was hired in early 2014 – has been assigned other work.
“He's working for the city,” Caldarelli said. “He's doing other work for us in the finance department (since) audit functions are on pause.”
When asked if this means the internal auditing department has effectively been eliminated, Caldarelli said “no, it's nothing like that.”
However, with Bigger in the race and no new audits near completion, she said the audit committee decided to mothball the department until after Oct. 27.
Bigger filed his forms Monday morning, and is now officially the eighth person running to succeed Marianne Matichuk as mayor. He joins Ward 5 Coun. Ron Dupuis, former mayor John Rodriguez and businessman Dan Melanson as the highest-profile candidates in the race.
While he has yet to unveil his platform, Bigger said last month that he's passionate about his hometown.
“I really love the city of Sudbury,” he said. “I was born in Sudbury, was educated in Sudbury, and I played sports in Sudbury. And my family's here.
“I believe I can bring the knowledge and experience that people have recognized to the mayor's office.”