City lines up new finance director

Portland City Hall (BDN file photo by Troy R. Bennett)

Portland City Hall (BDN file photo by Troy R. Bennett)

Tonight, the Portland City Council is expected to name Brendan O’Connell the city’s new finance director, the latest hire in what’s been a carousel of department head comings and goings at Portland City Hall since 2011.

With O’Connell’s hiring and the December arrival of new Department of Health and Human Services Director Dawn Stiles, the city administration will be as close to settled and — at full strength — as its been in a long time.

That said, there are still some big changes possible on the horizon for the city of Portland. The two most visible city leadership positions are in play in 2015.

city hallThe City Council must still pick a permanent replacement for departed City Manager Mark Rees, who abruptly left in September citing a wish to pursue other “personal and professional opportunities,” and the second public mayoral election of the modern era will take place this fall.

(That said, current Mayor Michael Brennan could absolutely run for re-election and win. And multiple people around Portland have told me they would be happy if the city just hired Sheila Hill-Christian, deputy city manager under Rees and now acting city manager, to stay in that office permanently. Under those scenarios, nothing would change at the very top level of city government.)

Tonight, the night should belong to O’Connell, who comes to the city from the world of investment banking. O’Connell has worked for Manulife Financial Corp./John Hancock Financial Services in Boston since 2007, most recently as director of the firm’s group finance accounting.

If O’Connell’s appointment is approved by the City Council, he’ll start work on March 3 and receive an annual salary of $106,050.

He would be the permanent replacement for Ellen Sanborn, who served as the city’s finance director for six years before announcing a move over to the school department in August.

I also never write about a prospective City Hall hiring without noting that, in the last couple of years, there have been a ton of them. Since 2011, the city has hired — or is still looking for a new — city manager, fire chief, police chief, school superintendent, planning director, mayor, deputy city manager, three top attorneys, finance director, communications director, DHHS director and now, city manager again. Add on top of that the decision by three-decade City Councilor and former Mayor Cheryl Leeman last fall not to run for re-election (two-term incumbent John Coyne also gave up his council seat), and you’ve got a lot of turnover at City Hall in a relatively short period of time.

Seth Koenig

About Seth Koenig

Seth has nearly a decade of professional journalism experience and writes about the greater Portland region.