Derby Mayor Names New Chief Of Staff

Information via the city of Derby

DERBY, CT — Mayor Joseph DiMartino announced over the weekend Linda Fusco, a long-time public servant and former Derby alderwoman, has been selected as chief of staff for the city.

According to a news release provided by the city, Fusco has served the city of Derby for multiple terms as an alderwoman and most recently as chair of the Derby Housing Authority.

She also served for several terms as chair of the Derby Democratic Town Committee and as campaign manager for DiMartino's 2021 and 2023 campaigns.

"I have every confidence that Linda Fusco will be a tremendous asset to the city of Derby in this role because she approaches leadership in a collaborative style," DiMartino said in a news release, "and this is what the city needs to fix the mountain of unfinished business that we walked into a month ago."

The wife of the late former long-time City Sheriff Sal Fusco, she retired from the state Department of Children and Families Services as a supervisor for social workers.

"[Fusco] has management experience and understands the issues facing the city of Derby," DiMartino said, "and how to improve the quality of life here in Derby."

Fusco also was highly active in Derby Pop Warner as the cheer coordinator for many years.

"I share Mayor DiMartino's vision for an inclusive and transparent management approach to governing," Fusco said in a news release. "We ran with a platform for fixing the financial and other issues plaguing the city of Derby and we will do our best to do what we said we would do."

Fusco began work Tuesday. Her position is full time and her salary will be $75, 000 per year, according to the city.

"Linda and I share a vision with our entire team to show up every day and work hard together to make Derby the best that it can be," DiMartino said in a news release. "I have complete confidence in her ability to bring people together."