New Derby Mayor Anita Dugatto has appointed two familiar faces to key positions within City Hall.
Tuesday was Dugatto’s second day on the job after being sworn into office Saturday. She defeated incumbent Mayor Anthony Staffieri Nov. 5.
Kevin Blake is Derby’s new corporation counsel, Dugatto said Tuesday.
Blake was previously corporation counsel under Mayor James Della Volpe in Ansonia, who was ousted in last month’s election after seven terms.
Blake is from the law firm of Welch, Teodosio, Stanek, & Blake, LLC, which has offices in Oxford and Shelton. He’s also an Ansonia volunteer firefighter.
Henry Domurad is Dugatto’s chief administrative assistant. The role is essentially the mayor’s chief of staff.
The position was previously held within Staffieri’s administration by Sheila O’Malley and, prior to O’Malley, Phil Robertson.
O’Malley, by the way, is supposed to take a job in Ansonia City Hall as grant writer, according to David Cassetti, that city’s new mayor.
Domurad was previously Derby’s finance director and served on the tax board for years.
His employment with the city as finance director ended in April 2012, when former Mayor Staffieri said Domurad had resigned. Domurad maintained the mayor fired him and filed an unsuccessful lawsuit to get his job back.
It was easily the most controversial issue within Derby politics of the last four years.
Domurad was all smiles during an interview with the Valley Indy, saying he was more concerned with moving Derby forward under Dugatto’s leadership than talking about the past hostility.
“I know what happened,” he said of the past controversy.
Dugatto said Domurad’s experience in Derby City Hall is second-to-none.
“When I took him around yesterday everyone said ‘Welcome home, Henry,’” she said.
The new mayor said Monday and Tuesday were busy days.
When the Valley Indy stopped by Tuesday afternoon, Jennifer Desroches, the mayor’s new secretary, was helping Dugatto get her computer up to speed.
Domurad and Dugatto have been searching for and consolidating files into central locations for matters such as economic development.
It remains to be seen whether Dugatto will name an economic development director. That position was also held by O’Malley in the previous administration.
“The government is functioning,” Domurad said. “We have a handle on how the system works and a lot of history on different topics. That helps in organizing data and filing things more efficiently so we can find things.”
Dugatto said she’s talked to all the employees in City Hall, but she didn’t gather city department heads into a room for a formal group “hello.”
“My thoughts are if you’re doing your job well you’re probably not going to hear from me,” she said.
