Norwich names city manager
Former Newington official John Salomone to take over from Bilda
Norwich — Former Newington Town Manager John Salomone was named Tuesday as the new Norwich city manager during a news conference prior to the start of the regular City Council meeting.
The City Council voted 6-0, with one alderwoman absent, on Tuesday to approve Salomone’s appointment, but delayed setting a salary. May- or Deberey Hinchey said the salary would be set during final contract negotiations.
The position was advertised with a salary of up to $150,000 — $23,500 higher than the current budgeted salary for the position.
Salomone’s effective hiring date will be Jan. 27, but he will start in the Norwich position on Feb. 1, Hinchey said, one year nearly to the day from the resignation of former City Man- ager Alan Bergren.
During the news conference, Hinchey cited Salomone’s strong financial background and his experience at the helm of several Connecticut cities and towns and prior experience as a finance director.
Salomone said he is aware of the City Council’s goal of cutting taxes while trying to maintain city services.
“You have to provide as good a ser- vice for less,” Salomone said. “That’s kind of my theme here.”
Salomone said he is excited about meeting the challenges of budgeting, economic development, taxes and even the unusual situation of having a combination of paid and volunteer fire departments.
He said if he wasn’t up for the challenges of public service, he wouldn’t have sought the position.
“Norwich is not alone in challenges,” Salomone said. “We go through
the budget process. Connecticut is going through theirs. We have to find some common ground.”
He said he looks forward to meeting with city department heads and school Superintendent Abby Dolliver to discuss budgets and other issues. Salomone will work with acting City Manager John Bilda during the transition period to create the budget that will be presented to the council in April.
Bergren resigned Feb. 2, 2015, under pressure from the previous City Council and Hinchey. Norwich Public Utilities General Manager John Bilda has been serving as acting city manager since Feb. 3.
Bilda said Tuesday he has scheduled a reception for Salomone to meet city staff and the community from 5 to 7 p.m. Jan. 27 at the new downtown Norwich brewery These Guys Brewing Co., 78 Franklin St.
“While the process to find a new city manager may have taken longer than we expected, I am very pleased with the final result,” Hinchey said. “John is a proven and effective municipal leader and we are excited to have him join us as we continue to move Norwich forward.”
Salomone, 64, resigned Jan. 7 after serving as Newington town manager since 2006.
Prior to taking the Newington position in 2006, Salomone served for six years as city manager of Auburn, N.Y., and prior to that had stints as town manager of Cheshire and Watertown and served as director of finance in East Hartford, Waterbury and Ridge- field from 1988 through 1992.
Salomone, originally from Long Island City, N.Y., is a graduate of Hofstra University and earned a master’s degree in public administration at the State University of New York at Albany.
Salomone’s wife, Karen Salomone, and son, daughter and son-in-law attended Tuesday’s news conference and council meeting.
According to several stories in the Hartford Courant, Salomone faced rising tensions in Newington during the last year of his tenure, as the Town Council became increasingly divisive between Democrats and Republicans.
As in Norwich, Republicans took over control of the Newington Town Council on Nov. 3, and criticized Salomone for what they said was failure to communicate with the council and for his dealings with the public.
Democrats in Newington, however, praised Salomone for his strong budget man- agement that helped the town maintain a high bond rating and for communicating well with the Town Council, Courant stories said.
Former Democratic Mayor Stephen Woods told the Courant that Salomone “always exceeds expectations” and credited him with obtaining state funds to clean up a long derelict former industrial complex to create open space.
During Salomone’s tenure in Newington, a town with a population of 30,562 in 2010, he hired three new department heads, including a chief of police and parks and recreation director, the Courant reported.
He will get similar opportunities in Norwich, as Director of Planning and Development Peter Davis and Tax Collector Kathy Daley recently announced plans to retire soon, and the city’s recreation director position has remained vacant since 2013.
Salomone on Tuesday cited his ability to recruit enthusiastic and well-qualified depart- ment staff as one of his management strengths.
Prior to the election, Republicans on the Newington council twice tried to block raises for Salomone, who did receive a 2 percent raise by the departing council Oct. 28 to a salary of about $147,000.
He received a seven-month severance package worth nearly $100,000 on Jan. 7, the Courant reported.
In December, Salomone was a finalist for the town manager position in Yarmouth, Mass., according to Courant stories.
Bergren, too, received a severance package from Norwich totaling $152,342 that included a portion of his base pay with raises he had not received during the recession.
The final payment to Bergren will be made Jan. 31, although the city agreed to provide health insurance through June 30, 2016, unless he obtains insurance through other employment.