The City Council approved Mayor Eddie Sundquist’s nomination of John Sellstrom as city comptroller Monday, filling the position left vacant by former Comptroller Ryan Thompson.

Sellstrom took his oath of office during the council’s voting session.

Afterward, Sundquist expressed his confidence in Sellstrom’s ability to accomplish the job of comptroller and his enthusiasm for the vacancy being filled.

“We’re very excited to have John Sellstrom join us after Ryan Thompson had left us for the private sector,” he said. Thompson resigned as city comptroller July 8.

While Sellstrom will be transitioning into a new role, he has previously served as financial coordinator for the city’s Urban Renewal Agency.

“John has been with the city for several years now,” Sundquist said, “He has been working with our Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency, which is kind of our direct connection to HUD and our federal grant partners. He’s been dealing with a lot of different accounting and other financial things across the city.”

As a result of his experience in city government and financial expertise, the mayor selected Sellstrom, who was unanimously approved by the council.

“We’re really excited to bring him on,” Sundquist said, “It is obviously a very large position to take on. We’ve been very lucky to have our former comptrollers, both Ryan Thompson and Joe Bellitto, step in to provide some training and support.”

The city comptroller is responsible for maintaining the city’s accounting records and systems, helping prepare the city’s annual budget, overseeing the collection of city taxes, planning capital budgets, providing periodic financial updates for city officials and managing a variety of other financial issues for the city.

In addition to hiring and training Sellstrom, the city is planning to hire another staff member to alleviate some of the burden of the comptroller’s duties.

“We’re also still actively looking for a deputy comptroller to provide additional support for John,” the mayor said.

While the city continues its search for a deputy comptroller to assist Sellstrom, Sundquist believes he is fully capable of fulfilling the duties of comptroller.

“He’s no stranger to city government and he’s got all of the skills that we need in order to make sure that we keep the books running and we don’t miss anything along the way,” Sundquist said.