School District Hires DiBlasi as New Finance Director

Superintendent of Schools Colleen Palmer embarked on a search for a new finance director in July before finding an ideal candidate in her own backyard.

Gabriella DiBlasi of Monroe, who serves on the town's Board of Finance, was hired on Aug. 10.

Palmer said 14 highly qualified candidates were interviewed, adding DiBlasi's "unique experience" on the Board of Finance gave her an edge.

"We felt Gabi was the right fit at the right time," she said, while seated at a conference table in her office with DiBlasi Monday afternoon.

"I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and dig in," DiBlasi said, "and I'm really looking forward to working with the staff here and Dr. Palmer."

DiBlasi's first day will be Sept. 7 and her contract will be finalized by the end of the week, according to Palmer. She said the contract specifies the salary would be a minimum of $125,000 a year.

The position opened up when Nancy O'Dea-Wyrick, director of fiscal and management services, left to pursue another opportunity.

The job was posted in July, and Palmer said three-and-a-half days of face-to-face interviews with 14 candidates were conducted before DiBlasi was chosen.

DiBlasi has no experience managing the finances of a school district, but Palmer said finding a candidate with a strong background in finance was a priority in the search, with the reasoning that the school part of the job could be taught later.

"You're looking for the skill set and that can-do attitude. I call it fire in the belly," Palmer said. "Your integrity and ethics have to be above reproach and you have to really be aligned with the mission of serving the community with the resources it gives us."

"I'm grateful for the tremendous pool of candidates," she said.

Several members of the Board of Education, Masuk High School Principal John Battista, who is also president of the administrators' union; and Chris J. Baudouin of the Monroe Board of Finance all had input in the hiring process, according to Palmer.

DiBlasi sent a letter to the town Board of Ethics saying she will resign from the Board of Finance on Aug. 31, and requesting a release from the restriction barring anyone from coming before a board within less than a year of having served on it.

The Democratic Town Committee will choose DiBlasi's replacement on the board, then it's up to the Town Council to decide whether or not to approve the recommendation.

DiBlasi's background

DiBlasi said she has 18 years experience in comptroller departments for Wall Street firms, including Bear Sterns, Credit Suisse First Boston, Union Bank of Switzerland, Goldman Sachs and Salomon Brothers.

She said her last position was running Bear Stearns Financial Products, an $8 billion subsidiary of Bear Sterns.

DiBlasi and her husband have a four-and-a-half year-old daughter who will enroll in kindergarten at Fraser-Woods, a Montessori school in Newtown. She said they chose the school because it has all-day kindergarten.

"My husband and I talked about me going back work full-time," DiBlasi said.

In addition to applying for the business director job for Monroe Public Schools, DiBlasi said she also had applied for a comptroller opening in the town of Bethel.

She said is grateful for the opportunity to work in Monroe, the town she has lived in for seven years.

"You live here. You pay your taxes here," she said. "I'm going to know exactly where my tax money is going. I live a mile up the road. You're a local stakeholder and that's a good thing."

Budget season

DiBlasi said she looks forward to working closely with town officials, including Public Works Director Arthur Baker, First Selectman Steve Vavrek and Finance Director Carl Tomchick.

Palmer said DiBlasi will be diving right into the town's annual budget process.

"It's going to take a skill set that Ms. DiBlasi brings to the table," Palmer said. "I think it's an asset that she has the experience on the Board of Finance. She has vetted the budget the past three years and understands the revenue streams — local, state and federal, the priority drivers and the pressure points."

Throughout the process, DiBlasi said she will maintain an "open door policy," communicating with residents via phone calls and e-mails.

Monroe has a well-known history of budget battles, where multiple referendum votes being necessary to adopt a budget is commonplace.

"Hopefully it will be accepted on the first go around," DiBlasi said of the upcoming proposal.