Schools CFO Phil Penn Resigns

This is a another argument for regional municipal governance. Having 169 municipalities with widely disparate tax bases duplicate efforts and compete with each other for skilled people does serve the commons well.

Mark Firla: Regionalization makes a lot of sense with public safety. It's absurd that New Haven loses police officers to even more destitute Hamden. In education, however, education is already regionalized for smaller communities like Orange/Bethany/Woodbridge, Haddam/Killingworth, and Chester/Essex/ Deep River. In this case, Hartford is not offering much more in pay, nor does Hartford have a better tax base. The motive for the move is more likely more stable governance, and perhaps a focus on students' education rather than the race of contractors, the comfort of faculty, and jobs for friends and supporters.

Add another employee fleeing city employment. Is the HR director taking notice? You don't leave one job to go to another that's probably worse for $5000 more and deal with the traffic of getting into Hartford every morning.

Mark Firla is on target with the need for regionalization. The cost of duplicating services in each and every one of the 169 municipalities is ineffecient and unaffordable.
It does provide jobs for family and friends.

Penn came to New Haven from a position with the Town of Canton, CT. Several of Penn's professional profile's list his location as Burlington, CT. Both Canton and Burlington are (north)west of Hartford. Perhaps this job move relates to a shorter commute. I am just guessing.

https://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/chief_financial_officer_phillip_penn/

Bohica: According to Linked-in, Penn lives in Burlington, so he is making his commute much shorter as well as getting a few more dollars. He has, also, had a few jobs in private industry. With his skill set, one competes not only with the other 168 towns, but with for-profit industry as well,

This role has been vacant more often than it's been filled in recent years. It's a large budget and requires C-Level oversight. The City has also been without a Controller for more than a year. Not good for a bankrupt city with a history of financial mismanagement.

No one wants to regionalize with NH HTFD BPT WTBY etc... That's like rushing on board with the last ticket for the TITANIC.

Penn was subject to insults and abuse by petty power-hungry pols and he had enough.
Good luck to him and thanks for his efforts to wade through the mess our city is in!!