Former Fairfield CFO is new chief financial officer
NORWALK — After three months of searching, Norwalk has filled the chief financial officer position with Fairfield’s former CFO.
“We are excited to welcome Jared Schmitt as our new CFO,” Mayor Harry Rilling said. “Schmitt brings a wealth of public financial management experience to the city of Norwalk from the state and local levels and is very knowledgeable about municipal bond sales, capital planning, budget management, risk management and more.”
Schmitt was officially hired to be Norwalk’s CFO after a unanimous vote of approval from the Common Council on Tuesday night.
“Most recently, he served as CFO for the town of Fairfield, and I look forward to having him on our team and know that the city will benefit from all the expertise he brings,” Rilling added.
Schmitt served as Fairfield’s CFO from 2020 to January 2024. Schmitt’s departure from Fairfield came shortly after newly elected First Selectman Bill Gerber took office with a vow to reform the town’s financial oversight.
“I am honored to be selected as the next CFO for the city of Norwalk,” Schmitt said. “I look forward to working with Mayor Rilling and his team and am excited to continue Norwalk’s tradition of strong financial management.”
Norwalk’s former CFO, Henry Dachowitz, left the city at the end of December to work closer to his home in New York City. Dachowitz has been informally helping the city recently during the complicated budget process and has attended several meetings since his departure.
During the Common Council meeting, Schmitt, an Orange resident, said he plans to spend the next few weeks acquainting himself with Norwalk so that he has “an understanding of each of the projects and it’s not just a dollar amount next to a road, there’s some meaning to it.”
Entering the city at a time when Norwalk is
facing a complex budget season, Nora NiedzielskiEichner, a Common Council member, asked Schmitt about his plans for capital planning.
“It was one of the very first things I did in Fairfield and one of the first things that I plan on doing in Norwalk,” Schmitt said.
Schmitt said he plans to look at Norwalk’s borrowing
and set up a framework on how to allocate funds. His first day on the job will be on April 2.
“He clearly understands the complicated formula that is needed to maintain a AAA bond rating, it’s not just one variable but several,” said Greg Burnett, a Common Council member. “And I think that’s very
important because that’s important to Norwalk, to maintain that rating.”
Under Schmitt, a parttime grant writer was hired in Fairfield.
“As CFO, he expanded grant writing opportunities, helping to bring in approximately $12 million through Fairfield and implemented a new capital planning process to help improve transparency and support the implementation of additional capital projects,” Rilling said.
Both Common Council members and Norwalk residents have expressed an interest in hiring a grant writer.
As Fairfield’s CFO, Schmitt oversaw an investigation into the town’s credit card use and policy.
With 16 years of industry experience, Schmitt has also worked in Hartford at the Connecticut General Assembly as director of caucus research, where he helped negotiate and analyze the state budget.
Schmitt has worked as the “affordable housing development specialist for Mutual Housing Association of South Central, CT, where he worked closely with economic development directors, CEOs and stakeholders on analyzing housing development viability,” the city’s statement said.
He also served in the U.S. Army, where he graduated from the Defense Language Institute and enlisted as a voice interceptor, Spanish linguist, the city’s statement said.