Bd. of Selectmen Names Wilton’s New CFO, with Backing from Vanderslice

At a special meeting of the Board of Selectmen last night (Nov. 24) the members voted 4-0 to approve the hiring of Anne Kelly-Lenz as Wilton’s new chief financial officer. They did so after a fast, 15-minute meeting during which first selectman-elect Lynne Vanderslice called in by phone to add her strong support of Kelly-Lenz as a permanent CFO hire.

Kelly-Lenz was chosen as the candidate of choice to replace departing CFO Sandy Dennies following a search process that began under some disagreement between board members over whether the current BoS or the newly elected BoS should make the final hire. In addition, several members of the public objected to the possibility that the sitting BoS would potentially make the decision, even drawing an FOI complaint (later withdrawn) and an RTC resolution objecting as well. A compromise was reached that the search firm would prioritize looking for an interim CFO before the change in boards on Nov. 30, but a suitable permanent candidate would be considered if found.

The original search committee shifted somewhat, especially after the Nov. 3 election:  first selectman-elect Vanderslice became involved, and Bd. of Finance member Richard Creeth took the place of Warren Serenbetz, who dropped off due to work conflicts, and Dick Dubow, who was unavailable during the interview meetings.

The committee started with more than 250 candidate submissions, and eventually narrowed down “unanimously” to Kelly-Lenz, who will leave her current position as finance director for the city of Bridgeport to work for Wilton.

According to Bill Brennan, “We all felt we were lucky enough to get her.”

Vanderslice spoke next, mentioning that she had emailed comments to each of the board members about why she endorsed Kelly-Lenz’s hiring, noting she met with Kelly-Lenz three times and conducted tough, in-depth interviews, and that she did her own investigating of Kelly-Lenz’s abilities.

In the email, which was sent to GOOD Morning Wilton, Vanderslice wrote:  “Anne displayed a strong knowledge of accounting, financial reporting, budgeting and forecasting and good analytical thinking. She had excellent communications skills and demonstrated the ability to think quickly on her feet. Her answers to questions, including the examples she provided, left me confident she is both a strong and fair manager. Her reference results, which you have, supported my assessment. In her current position, she has successfully dealt with difficult situations, has shown a willingness to roll up her sleeves to address issues and displayed a strong sense of customer service in her interactions with taxpayers.”

During Tuesday night’s meeting, Vanderslice added comments by phone, saying, “As a former financial professional, I was very concerned with ensuring our next CFO was well-qualified with outstanding accounting and financial knowledge and skills and the individual have a track record of strong management and good communication skills. Therefore I feel we are  very lucky to have found all of this in Anne. I strongly urge you to support her hiring.”

Creeth added that with his own background as a U.K. chartered accountant and having spent his entire career in finance systems in the U.S., he was impressed with Kelly-Lenz from the first interview. “So much so that we decided to get quite demanding in the second interview. We drilled her on technical issues. It’s rare I come out of an interview with such a positive sense.”

Dubow remarked that her reference checks were outstanding, and that comments about her were “quite remarkable, in terms of high highly they rate her on her financial management and personal skills.”

Michael Kaelin noted that he is “not a rubber stamp” and insists on investigating things himself, so he said he had insisted on interviewing Kelly-Lenz before voting. “I’m a pretty good judge of character and people. My main concern is she’s a good person and a team player. I was overwhelmingly impressed with her. The reference report we got was truly outstanding.”

Deborah McFadden echoed her fellow board members, noting that Wilton’s current CFO Dennies had high praise for Kelly-Lenz.

Kelly-Lenz is scheduled to start on Dec. 7.

Vanderslice also  emailed the following statement to GMW.com:  

“I am very pleased Anne Kelly-Lenz will be Wilton’s next CFO.

“Bill and I were fortunate to have Richard Creeth, a financial professional, join us for the interviews with Anne. After the first interview, we were all impressed, so much so that Richard and I were concerned she was ‘too good to be true.’ We pressed harder during the next interview and she rose to the challenge.

“Anne has a strong knowledge of and experience in accounting, financial reporting, budgeting and forecasting. She has very good analytical thinking along with excellent communications skills and the ability to think quickly on her feet.

“In her current position as Finance Director for Bridgeport, she has successfully dealt with difficult situations, has shown a willingness to roll up her sleeves to address issues and displayed a strong sense of customer service in her interactions with taxpayers.

“Anne is experienced in every aspect of the Wilton CFO role. I am confident she will hit the ground running on day one.

“Timing is everything in life and in this case we were fortunate that a change in the Mayor of Bridgeport resulted in Anne looking just when we were also looking.

“Anne came to this country on her own and with a strong work ethic and determination put herself through school and carved out a career where she has continued to build on her experiences. I look forward to working with her.”