SOUTHINGTON — The Town Council welcomed the return of James Bowes as the town’s finance director following the retirement of Emilia Portelinha in June.
Portelinha has agreed to help with the transition. Bowes, who lives in Southington, spent 17 years as comptroller in Wallingford before his retirement in May 2021. Prior to that, he was finance director in Southington.
“Jim Bowes was by far the best candidate that we interviewed for the position, and I feel that he will be able to, almost seamlessly, perform the duties of finance director,” Town Manager Mark Sciota said during Monday night’s council meeting. “He is very familiar with our processes in Southington and is getting up to speed with the changes that have been implemented since he left.”
As Wallingford’s comptroller, Bowes managed the finance, tax collection, assessor and purchasing departments. He also served as the chief financial officer for the Department of Public Utilities and was a member of the Pension Commission.
When Bowes started in Wallingford, the finance department had 35 employees. Since then, with better training and upgraded technology, the workforce has been reduced by about 23 percent.
“Having those folks better trained and adding some more technical components has certainly helped us reduce our manpower,” Bowes told the Record-Journal at the time. “I do take pride in that fact.”
When Bowes retired, Wallingford Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. praised his “conscientious approach” and called him “a great example of knowledge (and) professionalism.”
Bowes is now learning the technological and other changes that have been made since he left Southington’s Finance Department. The department is responsible for accounting, budgeting, fiscal planning and reporting of the town’s financial activities.
“I look forward to working with what so far seems to be a great staff,” Bowes told councilors on Monday. “Seems like it’s going to be a very good positive experience. Hopefully we’ll keep this town a great place. I have called this town home for the past 20 years. We’re going to do our best.”
Sciota told councilors and the public that he had a good working relationship with Bowes during the 12 years he worked for the town before leaving for Wallingford. Council Chairwoman Victoria Triano agreed.
“You distinguished yourself the first time,” Triano said. “Hopefully it can only go up from there.”
During the meeting, town officials also said goodbye to Fire Chief James Paul Jr., who is retiring.
“I worked with a wonderful crew,” Paul said. “Now I can sit back and watch the department go forward. I believe I brought the department forward and I’m excited to see where it goes.”
Paul, an Air Force veteran, began his career in Southington in 1993. He worked his way up to battalion chief and in 2018 was chosen as assistant fire chief and fire marshal.
Paul, appointed chief last March, is retiring for family reasons. He drew high praise from town leaders.
“We’re disappointed the chief’s leaving but family comes first,” Mark Lajoie, chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners, told the Record-Journal in July.
In other business, the council heard there may be changes to the location and size of the proposed library project. The builder will outline options and specifications to the Library Building Committee on Sept. 28.
The Town Council also received an update on the formation of a Fair Rent Commission mandated by state statute. An outside attorney has been consulted on forming the commission. More details about the scope of the commission, its makeup and ethics rules will be forthcoming.
mgodin@record-journal.com203-317-2255Twitter: @Cconnbiz
