Dave Bohrer / The Meridian StarMeridian City Hall

David Whitaker has resigned as the city of Meridian’s chief financial officer.

Whitaker, the city’s finance and records director/ CFO/ city clerk since April 2015, resigned Thursday for personal reasons, Mayor Percy Bland said.

Whitaker, who could not be reached for comment, will remain on the payroll until the end of November.

“He has things he needs to take care of,” Bland said. “We discussed it a while back, and he communicated to me that he wanted to go ahead and retire at the end of this month… I told him I understand and we went from there.”

The mayor also said Whitaker, who isn’t retiring as a city employee, wants to spend time with his wife and mother after the recent “events in Florida.”

Brandye Scott Latimer, assistant director of finance and records/deputy city clerk, will take over Whitaker’s responsibilities until a replacement is hired, as Latimer has worked with the city for nearly 10 years, Bland said.

“I’m not making any changes now,” Bland said. “Maybe first of the year we will look at the things.”

Ward 5 City Councilman Weston Lindemann said he had no complaints with Whitaker’s performance.

“Last I had talked with him was about a week ago,” Lindemann said. “I never would have suspected a resignation the following week. I couldn’t possibly have any idea as to why he resigned.”

Board President and Ward 1 City Councilman George Thomas said Whitaker was “acceptable most of the time.”

“I’ll put it that way,” Thomas said. “He gave us the facts and figures as he understood them.”

Whitaker worked for five years as the vice president and CFO for Alaska Aerospace Corporation in Anchorage, Alaska. He has also been an executive for Custom Manufacturing & Engineering in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Lockheed Martin.

After being hired, former Chief Administrative Officer Mike McGrevey said Whitaker’s qualifications made him the best fit for the position.

He replaced Ed Skipper, who Bland fired in February of 2014 after working for the city nearly 35 years.

The city also announced the retirement of Community Development Director Bunky Partridge, who is “transitioning into the retirement process,” Bland said in a previous report.

Partridge will remain “an employee of the city” on paper until his retirement is official next month.