A new chief financial officer for Wilton appears to have been found, pending her acceptance of an offer letter that the Board of Selectmen approved on Monday, Dec. 1, and which is expected to get a response by Friday, Dec. 5.
While the Board of Selectmen was careful not to name the woman, who apparently works in another municipality, praise was very high for the person, who they said rose to the top of around 150 candidates. The selectmen privately interviewed the candidate in a lengthy executive session held at the start of Monday’s regular meeting.
Wilton’s Finance Department Drama
Wilton has experienced a remarkable whirlwind of issues relating to its Finance Department over the past year. While there were already questions about different aspects of financial handling, including tax credits that were issued without approval from the Board of Selectmen and inconsistencies in relation to a confusing town budget process for Fiscal Year 2025-26, the sudden departure of Wilton’s CFO Dawn Norton was a pivotal culminating event.
On Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, GOOD Morning Wilton broke the news that Norton, who had apparently been working virtually for a number of months, was permanently settled in Greybull, WY, and had been appointed its town administrator and finance head on May 12, 2025.
Though Boucher claimed to have known the night before and said Town Administrator Matt Knickerbocker consequently asked for Norton’s resignation Monday morning, Norton was still in attendance at that night’s BOS meeting. The following day, Norton resigned, though she maintained she had done nothing wrong according to her original offer letter and that Boucher had been informed of the situation in writing.
Following Norton’s departure, Joseph Centofanti, a part-time per diem interim CFO, was engaged by the town at the beginning of September, around the same time Controller Anthony DeFelice, the Finance Department’s second-in-command, also resigned on Sept. 4.
While less than a month later Tracy Haberman was hired as the new controller, in his few reports to town officials Centofanti has described a messy and somewhat arduous process of trying to reconcile Wilton’s accounts, as well as prepare it for its annual audit and upcoming budget season.
“Needle in a Haystack”
“We have been now finally successful in finding that needle in a haystack,” Boucher told the BOS on Monday night, Dec. 1, describing the lengthy process undertaken by a CFO search committee that reviewed over 150 resumes, held dozens of interviews and even sought out talents in different places.
“They didn’t come to us,” Boucher said. “I had to go ask to see if there was someone in this particular city that would be willing to come forward and they did.”
Boucher said that while there were many talented candidates reviewed, more than 95% of them came from a corporate background.
“They don’t have the real, hands-on municipal experience and software and financial know-how that is very specific to cities and towns,” she said.
“There seems to be at least some amount of consensus on this individual that can help us day one hit the ground running,” she said, describing an exhaustive search process earmarked by strong dedication from those involved.
“Everyone was dedicated to helping to move the town forward together and it was really quite inspirational for me,” Boucher said.
While no details of the offer letter were shared, the BOS set the annual salary range for the position as between $160,000 and $200,000.
Fostering Transparency in Trying Times
Selectman David Tatkow, who just took his seat on the board, expressed confidence in the new selection, especially given the extraordinary circumstances facing the department.
“We need to build confidence in the department and in how the individual would handle that,” Tatkow said. “I thought the answers were good. I asked the individual if they’d come into a situation like this in the past, and in that person’s career they did, some years back, come into a similar situation, so I think there’s some precedent.”
Tatkow stressed the importance of fostering transparency for the town, with the new CFO needing to keep both elected officials and the town abreast of how things proceed.
“In a stable situation, I think a much more freer cadence would probably be acceptable, but now I think it’s even more imperative that we have those frequent updates so that we know we’re going to get that consistent update from that person,” he said.
Selectman Rich McCarty also described his confidence in this choice of candidate after having interviewed dozens of people.
“This candidate rose to the top quite quickly once we had the opportunity to see her,” McCarty said. “I’ve seen her in Zoom and twice in person now … I have the confidence that she’ll be able to move this process forward.”
He emphasized that the search committee contained town officials from both parties, including members of the BOS and BOF.
Lastly, Second Selectman Ross Tartell said this candidate satisfied the concerns he had about the right person taking on this job, including both financial acumen and skills working with people.
“The details she provided in terms of her methodology and approach gave me a lot of confidence,” he said.
Boucher said that this candidate, as well as several others, were brought to meet Centofanti.
“He was very comfortable that they had both the accounting skills, the background, the character, and the ability to be proactive on this,” Boucher said.
She said this candidate also met with Haberman.
“They felt they’re comfortable being able to work together,” Boucher said. “They spoke the right language — the accounting language, which was really great — and it’s also important because they’re going to be working for that individual and they have to be supervising that staff.”
“Given the disruption, the need to bring confidence to that department was really important,” she said, “including their commitment to making sure there’s transparency and constant reporting back on the situation.”