Staff Changes In Governor’s Office; Brian Durand As New Deputy Staff Chief

There will be some staff changes in Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s office next month as three employees come into the office and others head out to various agencies.

Brian Durand, who handled much of the work regarding the legalization of Sunday alcohol sales at the Office of Policy and Management, is joining the governor’s office as deputy chief of staff. He previously worked on then-Stamford Mayor Malloy’s campaign for governor in 2010 through his position with Hartford-based Global Strategy Group.

A Stamford native, Durand had served in 2006 as campaign manager for state Senator Andrew McDonald, who is now Malloy’s chief counsel.

The following memo from chief of staff Mark Ojakian, obtained by Capitol Watch, outlines the changes:

From: Ojakian, Mark
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2012 2:32 PM
To:
Subject: Governor’s Office Staff Changes

Good afternoon,

I am writing to inform you of some major  organizational  changes that have been made in the Governor’s Office. These new responsibilities will be assumed on November 2.   They are summarized below.

- Brian Durand is joining the Governor’s Office as the Deputy Chief of Staff. Brian will work very closely with me in fulfilling the strategic and operational goals of the Office of the Governor.
- Kathy Damato , who currently directs the activities of our constituent services operation, will become the Executive Office Administrator.  In her new role, Kathy will oversee the administrative operations of the Office including the scheduling and staffing  operations.  She will continue to oversee the constituent services unit.

- Zack  Hyde, who is currently the scheduler for the Governor, will become a special assistant to the Governor with primary responsibility for staffing the Governor.  Until we find a replacement for Zack, Aaron Frankel, my assistant,  will also assume responsibility for the Governor’s schedule.

In addition, James Desantos has left his legislative position in the Governor’s Office to become the Director of External relations for Connecticut Innovations  and Arielle Reich will be leaving her role as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs to take a position within the Criminal Justice Division at OPM.  We are very grateful for the hard work and dedication these two have shown over the past couple of years and wish them well in their new roles.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Thank you
Mark