Mayor Walsh announces selection of Boston's new chief financial officer
Today Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced that David Sweeney will serve as Boston’s next Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Collector-Treasurer. Sweeney brings nearly a decade of experience working in government finance, and most recently managed the financial operations of the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission, the country’s most successful lottery. He will replace Meredith Weenick, who has served in the position of CFO for the City of Boston since 2011.
"I'm pleased to welcome David Sweeney as Boston's new Chief Financial Officer," said Mayor Walsh. "I’m confident he will continue the City’s longstanding practices of fiscal prudence to ensure that Boston’s overall financial health remains strong. I’m also grateful for Meredith Weenick’s service to the City of Boston, particularly during the transition period, and for her leadership in our first budget of the Walsh Administration.”
As CFO, Sweeney will serve as Cabinet Chief of Finance and Budget with oversight of the Assessing, Auditing, Budget, Purchasing, Treasury, and Registry Departments. His responsibilities will include: debt and investment management, financial reporting, budget development and oversight, tax administration, risk management, city-wide performance management, and the administration of enterprise-wide financial systems. The Collector-Treasurer is the custodian of over 300 City trust funds and is an ex-officio member of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority Board.
"I’m honored to join Mayor Walsh’s team in this role,” said Sweeney. “Our shared vision for the City’s fiscal welfare will mean great things for Boston’s long-term growth and stability.”
Since 2011, Sweeney has served as the Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Executive Director of the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission. During this time the organization experienced its two most successful years, generating $4.85 billion in sales in 2013 and returning $984 million in profit in 2012. In his position, Sweeney oversaw all accounting, procurement, budget, charitable gaming, auditing, asset management, licensing, and collections functions of the Lottery. He led efforts to reform purchasing, institute a capital program, increase staff accountability, and enhance transparency at the agency.
Beginning in 2005, Sweeney worked for the House Committee on Ways and Means, serving as a Budget Analyst, focused on public safety issues. Within two years, he was elevated to Budget Director, where he was responsible for assembling the $30 billion annual state budget. In this role, and later as Chief Fiscal Policy Advisor to the Speaker of the House, Sweeney developed legislation dealing with municipal health insurance reform and economic development initiatives, among other issues.
His time as Budget Director included the largest recession since the Great Depression, during which time the Legislature implemented diverse solutions to achieve balanced budgets, while implementing reforms across state government that better positioned the state for future economic downturns, pulled the Commonwealth out of the recession faster than the nation as a whole, and eventually led to an upgrade to the Commonwealth’s credit rating.
