A 30-year veteran of municipal finance experience will fill the vacant position of Bedford’s finance director/accountant, beginning June 7.
David Castellarin, the current town accountant in Stoneham, has been appointed by Town Manager Sarah Stanton. The Select Board approved the hire, as required by the town charter, at its virtual meeting Tuesday.
The appointment follows the departures of two town finance directors over the past four months. Longtime Director Victor Garafalo took a similar position in Dracut effective Jan. 8. He was succeeded by Marisa Batista, former finance director in Hamilton, on Jan. 25. Her resignation was effective on March 19, for personal health reasons.
Castellarin has worked for the state Department of Revenue and as assistant town administrator and finance director in Swampscott, as well as in Stoneham.
Select Board member William Moonan asked Castellarin at Tuesday’s virtual meeting whether he has been able to look at some of the work he will be doing in Bedford. Castellarin said that other than meeting with Stanton, he has not yet been able to do any additional work. But he noted that it could be similar to his experience over so many years.
Board member Ed Pierce asked Castellarin what he envisions in his first 90 days as finance director. Castellarin joked that he primarily would be learning names. More seriously, he said that he looks forward to learning the differences between Bedford’s finance system and those in other towns for which he previously worked.
Pierce cautioned the difficulty of balancing accounting and finance director positions, but Stanton cited the value of the department staff to support the new director and his years of experience.
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