Finance Director Resigns

A. Raiford Daniels, the city’s finance director since November 2006, has resigned from his job for personal family reasons, City Administrator Marc Dashield confirmed Monday (Nov. 26, 2007).

Daniels was in charge of the largest of three city departments. The Department of Administration & Finance, Health and Social Services includes the comptroller, Division of Audit and Control, Division of Community Relations and Social Services, Health and Social Services, Municipal Court, Personnel Division, Purchasing Division, tax assessor, tax collector and Senior Center.

Dashield said he will serve as acting department head in addition to being city administrator until a successor is named to the post.

“There will be no interruption in terms of the department,” he said.

Dashield said the resignation was submitted within the last week and he believes Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs has accepted it. The mayor did not return two phone calls Wednesday.

Daniels is leaving just as the City Council is finalizing the FY 2008 budget and the long-awaited new senior center is under construction. Chief Financial Officer Peter Sepelya is also leaving Dec. 31 for retirement and a search is on for his successor.

Daniels kept somewhat of a low profile in the cabinet. No bio or resume was ever made public at the time of his appointment and the page on the city’s web site for him has no background information, while the other two department heads, Martin Hellwig and Jennifer Wenson Maier, do have resumes posted.

Since January 2006, Daniels is the third person to have been in charge of the department. Former City Administrator Norton Bonaparte Jr. stayed on in the new administration after Jan. 1, 2006 as head of the department, but left in March 2006 to become the first city manager of Topeka, Kan. Carlton McGee, the mayor’s choice for city administrator, then informally served as department head until he left in October 2006, leaving both posts to be filled.

Dashield, formerly the chief financial officer in Franklin Township, said an employee in the Plainfield department also holds the certification and will serve as acting chief financial officer.

--Bernice Paglia