For many, mayor’s CFO pick marks a welcome return
STAMFORD — It wasn’t a surprise when a Board of Representatives committee gave Sandy Dennies a unanimous seven thumbs up to become the city’s next chief financial officer.
It won’t be surprising if Dennies gets similar support from the full board Monday, when representatives vote on her nomination for director of administration, a position in Mayor David Martin’s cabinet.
Some representatives know Dennies from the 28 years she worked under previous Stamford mayors.
Others are thankful that she jumped in three months ago, when her predecessor abruptly left just as budget season started.
Still, others say they admire how Dennies has handled the cascading crises that hit the city within a couple of weeks of her arrival — the coronavirus pandemic, an economic near-shutdown, projected revenue shortfalls that triggered an unprecedented budget cut, distance working and renegotiation of multiple union contracts all at once.
After the Appointments Committee’s 7-0 vote last week, the chairwoman, Rep. Annie Summerville, D-6, sent Dennies on for final full-board approval with encouraging words.
“Go get ’em, Sandy,” Summerville said.
The committee’s 20-minute interview of Dennies opened with an acknowledgment of all she’s taken on as interim director of administration since early March, after Michael Handler, who had the job for eight years, quit to join the executive board of Building & Land Technology, the city’s biggest developer.
“I have a question for you, Sandy,” said Rep. Gary Palomba, R-16. “Why do you want to do this?”
Dennies explained that she’s worked in municipal government for more than 40 years — 28 of them in Stamford, including two as director of administration under former Mayor Dannel Malloy.
“This is my hometown.
This is where my kids grew up,” Dennies said. “Because of my familiarity with city operations, I think I’m helping a little bit more than someone coming in for the first time.”
Dennies left Stamford in 2009 to become chief financial officer in Wilton and then New Canaan.
She was newly retired from the New Canaan job when Handler quit and Martin asked her to fill in. Now Martin is nominating her to be the city’s permanent CFO through Nov. 30, 2021, which would be his last day in office if he does not win another mayor’s race or decides not to run.
“I was happy to help out,” Dennies said.
Palomba asked her to identify the city’s biggest challenges unrelated to COVID-19.
Dennies had a ready answer. It’s the finance department’s ancient computer system.
“It’s so old. We are one of four cities in the United States still using a green screen,” Dennis said of computer terminals that display green characters on a black background and date back to early mainframe days, before Windows and Mac.
Department heads struggle to electronically access the information they need to do their jobs, she said.
“We need a system that allows people to see what their budget is at any time,” Dennies said. “It’s not going to be a piece of cake, but the Board of Representatives and Board of Finance put funds in place for me to start that.”
Another challenge will be renegotiating the city’s agreement with BLT on the Harbor Point Tax Increment Financing district, which helps fund public improvement projects in the South End. Yet another will be to hire an accountant to get grant-funded capital projects in financial order, she said.
Dennies said she is concerned about negotiations with 10 city unions that the city is asking to forgo raises and switch to a cheaper state health-insurance plan to help Stamford meet a budget shrunken because of an expected drop in property-tax collections.
Two unions so far have reached agreements. If the other negotiations fail, dozens of city employees could be laid off.
Switching to the state plan would minimize the problem because the city could reduce the cost of medical benefits by more than $6 million, Dennies said.
“I sincerely hope that we get to a place where all of the unions accept that,” she told the committee. “We would like to be able to move forward without layoffs, because $4.7 million was cut from all full-time salary lines. It’s a lot of people.”
Rep. Anabel Figueroa, D-8, said she is glad Martin nominated Dennies for permanent CFO.
“It’s good to have a person who is trustworthy,” Figueroa said.
Rep. Denis Patterson, D-6, said he worked with Dennies years ago. He described a situation involving a project that hit a snag.
“There were disagreements on how it should go forward,” Patterson said. “Once Sandy saw there was a logjam, she decided what needed to be done, went to a different approach and finished it successfully. She is not one to waste time fighting and not one to hold grudges.”
Summerville, like members of her committee, thanked Dennies for stepping in at a difficult time.
“I am grateful that you would take on this responsibility once again,” Summerville said.