Sarah Clark, deputy commissioner of the Vermont Department of Finance and Management, will take over as chief financial officer at the Agency of Human Services in 2015.
Clark, who’s been in her current post for one year, will replace retiring CFO Jim Giffin. Her term at Finance and Management, where Clark reports to commissioner Jim Reardon, will last through initial budget presentations in January. Giffin may stay on for a period of time after that to assist with the transition.
Clark previously served as business manager for the Department of Corrections, which is housed in AHS. For a period of time during the administration of Gov. Jim Douglas, she was assistant CFO at AHS.
Reardon said Tuesday that the replacement they find for Clark in Finance and Management ideally will be someone they would look to first as his own replacement. Reardon has been at Finance and Management for 11 years, and rumors are circulating as to when he’ll retire.
“I’m still here,” he said when asked about his plans.
Reardon said as the agency that represents 60 percent of the state’s spending, staffing and complexity, it’s crucial to have a strong person in the Agency of Human Services position.
“You can have all the bench strength you want in Finance and Management,” Reardon said, “but if you don’t have key people in those positions, that can be as big a problem as not having the right people in Finance and Management.”
He praised Giffin’s tenure, and credited him with pointing out early concerns about some problems that have come to plague the agency. By way of example, Reardon said Giffin raised red flags around some information technology funding and the state’s risk related to implementation of Vermont Health Connect.
“You’re having to deal with the federal government in terms of cost allocation issues, federal funding, resources limitations, contractual matters,” Reardon said. “So it’s just not a matter of identifying issues and problems, but also offering solutions.”
Reardon also formerly held the CFO chair at AHS. He said he remembers well being recruited because he was asked on a Friday if he wanted the job, and had to decide by Monday.
Clark said she had a lot more time to make her decision. Discussions started before Harry Chen took over AHS after Doug Racine was fired, Reardon said. The job was not publicly advertised. Clark was selected among two internal candidates for the job.
In fiscal year 2014, in addition to benefits, Clark earned $58,072 in her current position and $29,714 in her previous role at the Department of Corrections, according to public records from the Department of Human Resources.
Outgoing CFO Giffin earned $101,282 in base pay plus $4,241 in overtime, for total compensation of $105,523, plus benefits.
