Boucher Seeks to Limit Which BOF Member Serves on CFO Search Committee, Faces Pushback Over Handling of Meeting

At an early morning special meeting of the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, Nov. 10, First Selectman Toni Boucher‘s efforts to restrict who could serve on Wilton’s CFO search committee drew pushback from some of her fellow selectmen. They also objected when she offered a closing comment citing criticism of the town’s boards and media and then made repeated attempts to quickly adjourn the meeting before the others could respond.

Nov. 10, 2026 Board of Selectmen Meeting Highlight Reel

“I just wanted to give you a little feedback because in reaching out to the various individuals on our need here in the Finance Department, a feedback I received was that Wilton is a scary place with its current board and the media it has,” Boucher said.

Her comment came following an extended discussion about how to select a member from the Board of Finance to serve on the CFO search committee. Boucher expressed her concerns about BOF members’ “style and manner” while advocating restrictions on which members could be appointed. During the discussion, she also began to answer a question directed to Selectmen Matt Raimondi and David Tatkow, prompting Raimondi to interject that they could speak for themselves.

In comments to GOOD Morning Wilton afterward, Tatkow called the meeting “intense” and said he was surprised by Boucher’s closing statement and subsequent effort to end the meeting.

“I personally was taken aback by her unplanned statement that was not in the agenda, and seemed thrown in haphazardly at the end,” he wrote in an email.

GOOD Morning Wilton reached out to Boucher for more details on her comments.

“No, the individual did not identify a particular media,” Boucher said. “They just mentioned the current climate.” She did not address questions about her concerns regarding BOF members’ “style and manner.”

The BOS ultimately approved a search committee 4-0, with a provision allowing the Finance Board to choose another member if its chair or vice chair “couldn’t do it,” subject to BOS approval. At the BOF meeting later that evening, Chair Tim Birch proposed that he and Vice Chair Rudy Escalante “tag team” participation in the search.

Who Can Represent the Finance Board?

For many months, Boucher has intermittently attributed staff departures and challenges within Town Hall to pressure, scrutiny and criticism of employees’ job performances from other elected officials and the press. In particular, Boucher has referenced outgoing CFO Dawn Savo and finance consultant Joseph Centofanti as feeling this way.

After less than a year in the job, Savo has accepted a new position with the city of Hamden. Her last day in Wilton will be Dec. 3.

Boucher’s comments followed extensive discussion about who should serve on the search committee. She proposed a committee that would include the selectmen, either Birch or Escalante, and a CFO from a neighboring town, with Town Administrator Jim Blanchfield and Human Resources Director Sarah Taffel as ex-officio members.

Throughout the discussion, she seemed to focus on efforts to keep some members of the Board of Finance from being allowed to serve on the search committee, although she did not specify names. Instead, she proposed former BOF member Sandy Arkell as an alternative if neither Birch nor Escalante could serve, rather than another current BOF member.”

“I also have observed the various members of the board and want to make sure that our committee has the style and manner to be productive,” Boucher said of the BOF members.

Boucher did not identify any particular BOF member she wanted excluded.

In the past she has clashed with BOF member Kim Healy — a former BOS member who served on the previous CFO search committee — on numerous issues. Most recently, at the last BOS meeting, Healy told Boucher that problems related to the Finance Department, including the extremely late audit filing, were Boucher’s responsibility for not managing properly. Boucher did not name Healy during Tuesday’s discussion.

During discussion at the Tuesday evening BOF meeting to select a representative from that board to be on the search committee, Healy commented, “Don’t want it, so I don’t care,” when Birch read the BOS parameters for selection.

Raimondi, who previously served as BOF chair, said that historically that board had been given the courtesy of choosing its own representative on a CFO search committee. He also suggested that there should be at least one certified public accountant involved in the process — a credential Healy holds.

“I’d leave it to them to empower their own person with that responsibility,” Raimondi said of the BOF, “especially because it’s so important.”

In response, Boucher emphasized that the appointments were ultimately a BOS decision and that the selectmen would have final approval over any alternative BOF representative.

“I feel strongly about that simply because we want to make sure that the right style and manner is included in this, and we have a very constructive, positive environment for whoever we’re interviewing,” Boucher said. “We want to make sure that they feel welcomed, that they’re not in an inquisition or in a courtroom when they come before us. We have difficulty enough with that.”

Boucher told the selectmen that she had discussed the appointments with Birch and that he recognized the BOS’s authority to make them.

“I have talked this over with the chair of the Board of Finance … He did clearly say that he felt that the decision was on the part of the Board of Selectmen to make those appointments,” Boucher said.

Following the meeting, GMW asked Birch whether Boucher had accurately described their conversation.

“I stated that formation of the search committee is the purview of the BOS. I also stated that last time BOF had representatives on the committee,” Birch said in his response.

“My understanding is that Rudy and I are acceptable persons on the committee. If it is anyone else, BOS has to approve the person,” he added.

Tatkow joined Raimondi in supporting the Finance Board’s ability to choose its representative. Second Selectman Ross Tartell preferred that the BOF chair or vice chair serve.

“I would prefer that they consider our wishes in that,” Tartell said.

Selectman Rich McCarty left before the CFO discussion. Tatkow relayed that McCarty had expressed a preference for the BOF chair to serve.

Boucher also said a CFO from a neighboring town had agreed to serve on the committee, but did not identify the person. Raimondi, who advocated including a CPA to assess candidates’ technical accounting knowledge, said the outside CFO could potentially provide that expertise. Tartell said he would prioritize someone with municipal finance experience over a CPA. The final motion included no CPA requirement.

Savo recommended involving Wilton Controller Tracy Haberman on the search committee, emphasizing the close working relationship the controller would have with an incoming CFO. Tartell suggested including Haberman in candidate screening and potentially as a nonvoting committee member, and Boucher supported involving her in preliminary screening with Taffel.

“David and I Can Speak to Our Position”

As the board approached a vote, Tartell noted hesitation from Raimondi and Tatkow and asked them to explain.

Before they were able to respond, Boucher began describing their position, saying they wanted the Finance Board to decide who would serve.

“I think David and I can speak to our position,” Raimondi interjected.

“Well, I am trying to give an overview of this meeting,” Boucher responded. “Thank you. Thank you for that regard and respect.”

Raimondi then reiterated that the Finance Board should be able to choose its own representative and offered a compromise.

After further discussion, Boucher restated the motion to include either the BOF chair or vice chair, adding, “if they couldn’t do it, then they would choose someone on their board that would come back to us for final approval.”

Raimondi seconded the motion and confirmed that the outside CFO would also require BOS approval. All four remaining selectmen voted in favor.

“You Dropped a Bomb”

After the committee vote, Boucher said the feedback characterizing Wilton as a “scary place” had made her stop and think about how board members conduct themselves.

“All the boards need to do better in the way in which they have outside consultants and outside staff or inside staff in their meetings,” she said. “It should be a more collegial and respectful tone.”

After making her comments, Boucher sought to quickly close the meeting, making a motion to adjourn and repeatedly requesting a second. 

Instead, Raimondi sought an explanation from her on her unexpected statement.

“Toni, you dropped a bomb,” he said. “We’ve got to ask about it. Who said that?”

Boucher responded, “Well, it was an individual that we’ve been trying to scan the landscape, and that’s all I can say at this point. But it’s quite observant to a lot of our meetings in the last year. It’s been a difficult road. And certainly difficult media scrutiny as well.”

She tried again to adjourn, but Raimondi continued pressing.

“We’re not done discussing it, though,” he said with a stunned laugh. “We’re still talking. You can’t, we can’t just end a meeting.”

Boucher, however, would provide no additional context, except to say she was giving the BOS feedback from someone who she said they may never talk to again.

Raimondi pointed out that there were more details about the search to discuss, including the process and job description, but Boucher said they would discuss those details in their next executive session.

Boucher then announced that the meeting was adjourned without taking a vote.

After the meeting, GMW asked Boucher which Finance Board members she was referring to and what specific concerns she had about their conduct. GMW also asked who had characterized Wilton as a “scary place,” whether that person was a town employee, job candidate or personal acquaintance, which media outlet or outlets the person meant and why she raised the comment at the meeting’s conclusion.

Aside from saying the person didn’t specify any particular media in their comments about “the current climate,” she offered no other response. She also did not identify the person or address questions about BOF members’ “style and manner.”

Tatkow Was “Taken Aback”

Of the other BOS members contacted for comment, only Tatkow had responded as of press time to say he was “taken aback” by Boucher’s “unplanned statement.”

“When she was asked about who said that Wilton was a scary place, she refused to say, which made the statement hard to properly address,” he said.

Tatkow said he was not on the front line of recruiting town employees and could not say whether officials or the media had affected recruitment.

“Wilton is a fiscally strong town, and so I would personally be surprised if qualified candidates would not want to work here,” he said.

He said Boucher appeared to try to close the meeting immediately after making the statement. The exchange followed what he said was “an intense meeting” that involved the board “making decisions on difficult topics,” and that members were “tired and unprepared for the additional discussion.”

“That along with not being prepared for the topic, led us to just let the conversation die out,” he said.

“I was not at all prepared to have that discussion at that point, and felt that while a discussion was appropriate, I was so surprised that I was a bit tongue tied,” Tatkow said.

“I do wish that in the future if there is a concern as significant as the one raised at the very end of the meeting, that we be told in advance to allow us to have a more thought out conversation,” he said.

Birch Proposes Sharing the Role With Escalante

At the BOF meeting Tuesday evening, Birch read members the committee arrangement the BOS had approved — that either the BOF chair or vice chair would serve on the search committee, and that the BOS would have final say over anyone else the BOF chose instead.

Birch then proposed that he and Escalante share participation in the search.

Birch described the proposed arrangement as serving “collectively as a single person,” adding, “so we’ll tag team.”

Birch also said he had spoken with Blanchfield about using a search firm.

“He is very supportive of hiring a search firm as part of the process, and so obviously that’s going to have to go through the board of selectmen,” Birch said.

GMW has asked Blanchfield to confirm that account.