Republican Matt Raimondi, former chair of the Board of Finance, was unanimously appointed to the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday night, Dec. 16, filling a seat vacated by the Republican former Second Selectman Josh Cole, who resigned before his term was due to expire in Nov. 2027.
Raimondi had a short public interview with the BOS, which then went into a short executive session before welcoming him aboard. Town Clerk Lori Kaback was at the meeting and swore him in immediately, enabling Raimondi to take official part in the rest of the proceedings.
Raimondi, who was enthusiastically endorsed by not only the Republican Town Committee, but the Democratic Town Committee as well, jumped right into action. He offered some thoughts and input regarding the town Finance Department‘s extensive troubles, which were once again highlighted during a presentation by Interim Chief Financial Officer Joseph Centofanti.
Centofanti provided a document that listed 38 different areas on which he has been focused during his time in Wilton, but that document — though it was reviewed by the BOS during the meeting — was not provided to the public Tuesday night. First Selectman Toni Boucher provided it to GOOD Morning Wilton on Wednesday afternoon.
Among the significant areas on which Centofanti has spent time are improving processes and training staff, accounting related tasks and bank reconciliations, Munis implementation, and closing out the accounting for Fiscal Year 2025 in preparation for the annual audit.
“I appreciate you walking us through and all the hard work across these 38 items,” Raimondi told Centofanti, who recounted a wide range of issues that he’s been working on to settle accounts, help the town get back on track for the upcoming budget season, and untangle the many issues stemming from the changeover in accounting software.
“I guess as I reflect on these items, these are some pretty serious things that you’ve done a great job fixing (but) how did we get here?” Raimondi asked. “What’s the process that got us to this point where we have 38 issues? … I ask the question so that we don’t get in this position again.”
Centofanti, who is helping Wilton’s new CFO Dawn Savo transition into the role, said he wasn’t entirely sure how it all happened.
“I don’t know how you got there other than a lot of it’s related to the software difference,” Centofanti said, referring to the arduous and incomplete changeover the town made over the past two years from one accounting software to another.
“I’m not sure why a lot of this stuff wasn’t found along the way,” he said. “I don’t know, but implementing a new system is a huge task. It’s really difficult to do with just internal staff. Most of my clients will hire someone to help with that process because the CFO’s already kind of a full-time job.”
Boucher pointed the finger at the previous CFO Dawn Norton, stating she waited a long time before asking for help.
Though the department has been short staffed literally for more than two years, for many months Norton was allowed to work virtually from Wyoming. While there followed what was described as a family emergency leave, Norton then took a position in Wyoming and held both jobs simultaneously until the news was discovered and she almost immediately resigned from Wilton.
While last year the BOF, under Raimondi’s leadership, directly had asked Norton if more money was needed to fund temporary help to get the department functioning at full peak, Norton had discouraged it and said they simply needed to find new hires and that enough money was already in the coffers.
Later, in an interview, Norton said there were more complications backstage between her department and the administration. While she didn’t elaborate, Norton described her exit from Wilton as “getting out of Dodge.”
“Would it be fair to say … that there was what many would say was a very difficult [software] implementation process compounded by a very difficult employee transition and that was how we got here?” Raimondi asked. “It was just two difficult situations at once?”
Centofanti agreed.
Raimondi also suggested that, while he favored Centofanti remaining in place for the immediate future to help Savo’s transition, it might be prudent to set a budget to make sure the BOS stays within its current budget allocation regarding this additional expenditure of Centofanti, who revealed for the first time that his actual hourly rate was $520 an hour but that he was giving the town a discounted rate at $375.
Raimondi said additionally, however, that the BOS should “also have a discussion of what other potential resources that we need, because I think to the extent that we have issues now, it would be really great if it could end this year and then next year we could start with a clean slate.”
Boucher, who went to great lengths to indirectly outline her Charter authority to Raimondi insofar as interaction with town employees was concerned, suggested the BOS be patient at this point and wait for additional updates.
Raimondi reiterated that the BOS should consider setting a budget — if not now, very soon.
“To the extent it’s over the Fiscal Year ’26 allocation, my suspicion is the Board of Finance would be amenable towards opening up Charter Reserve resources to the extent we needed to bring more people in. We should just have that discussion earlier rather than later.”
While he was unanimously appointed, Raimondi heard at least one tougher question from Selectman Rich McCarty, who himself was first appointed to his seat this year following a somewhat controversial process that elicited concerns from Boucher’s fellow Republicans.
“Obviously we all know that you’ve been endorsed by each the Republican Town Committee and Democratic Town Committee, however there are more registered voters in town that are unaffiliated,” McCarty said, noting that Raimondi came in fourth among four candidates for the BOF.
“Why should we appoint you to the Board of Selectmen now?” he said.
“Elections are what elections are,” Raimondi said, acknowledging it as a very direct question. “And I have my views for whatever happened, but I lost an election and it is what it is.”
Republic Town Committee Chair Peter Wrampe, speaking during public comment at the start of the meeting, encouraged the BOS to appoint Raimondi.
“Matt received unanimous support from the RTC, as well as support from a good number of my friends from the other side of the aisle,” Wrampe said, calling him a proven leader.
“He brings financial expertise to this organization, to the Board of Selectmen, and in his role [at the BOF] he was focused on responsible stewardship of my tax money,” he said.
He also praised Raimondi for both collaboration and transparency.
“I’ve known him for four or five years, maybe a little longer, and I’ve always found him to be a straight-forward shooter, no matter which way the wind was blowing,” Wrampe said.