Town terminates Anthony Ansaldi as CFO after extended leave

After more than two months of paid administrative leave, Anthony Ansaldi is out as Acton’s chief financial officer. 

While town leaders stay quiet on their reasons, a newly obtained letter from Ansaldi says politics are to blame. 

Town Manager Kerry Lafleur told The Acton Bridge on Monday that officials had given Ansaldi a “notice of termination” that day.

The Select Board is scheduled to discuss Ansaldi’s case in a closed-door session on Wednesday. Lafleur said she expects to share more information after that meeting.

Ansaldi deferred questions to his lawyer, Timothy Burke, who responded with a copy of a letter his client wrote last month. 

“This was not a performance issue,” Ansaldi wrote of his ouster. “It is a political issue.” 

‘A complete disaster’ 

Ansaldi came to Acton in 2023. He was placed on leave in late June. 

Officials convened an employment hearing in mid-August. Burke said his team presented Ansaldi’s letter at the hearing in response to a prior letter from Lafleur that he said outlined reasons for his firing. 

Asked via email on Tuesday why the town cut Ansaldi, Lafleur confirmed he was no longer a town employee but said she couldn’t comment further on “a personnel matter.”

Among the town’s purported complaints, Ansaldi said he was blamed for unauthorized contract execution, budget errors, management failures, and a delayed payroll conversion.

In his six-page response, Ansaldi said the payroll system “was a complete disaster and embarrassment prior to my arrival” and noted turnover in the CFO job since Lafleur became interim town manager in 2022.

Ansaldi claimed Lafleur never raised concerns about his performance. Rather, he said, she gave him high-profile assignments, including helping coordinate Concord250 celebrations and the controversial Doug White Fields replacement project.

(Town lawyer Kimberly Rozak wrote in a memo obtained via a public records request that Lafleur tried to raise concerns in a June 26 meeting, but Ansaldi walked out.) 

Ansaldi said this year’s Select Board election cycle revealed political motives for his firing, as did this year’s Town Meeting, where he and Lafleur spoke on opposing sides of a debate over Acton’s “rainy day” savings.  

Whistleblower notice

Burke sent the town a whistleblower notice in early July alleging that Ansaldi was penalized for refusing to participate in “unethical and potentially illegal conduct.” 

Rozak said none of the alleged acts broke the law and were instead differences of opinion about how to carry out CFO duties. 

State whistleblower law lets workers sue employers in state superior court after they provide a notice of their claim. Burke said Ansaldi intends to “exercise all of the legal remedies that are available,” but court records showed he had not filed suit as of Tuesday afternoon. 

A civil complaint could include new details. As for the charges in the whistleblower notice, however, Lafleur told The Bridge that the town could “easily refute or explain” those allegations. 

Severance deals 

This isn’t the first high-profile exit in Ansaldi’s career. He departed Littleton’s town administrator post in 2023 with a severance deal worth $232,371, the Lowell Sun reported.

This summer, Acton offered Ansaldi a separation agreement with $26,960 in severance pay, but Lafleur said he didn’t respond. The draft agreement said the town would also pay out Ansaldi’s unused vacation time.

Ansaldi’s deputy, Ryan Ferrara, has been the town’s acting CFO in recent months. 

The agenda for Wednesday’s Select Board meeting includes appointing an interim treasurer-collector and selecting a new member for the Retirement Board — two positions Ansaldi held alongside his CFO duties.

Burke said Ansaldi never received a required annual performance review. 

Lafleur got her latest review last month, and Select Board members repeatedly referenced Ansaldi without naming him. 

“Great job stepping in for the CFO, although it was unfortunate that this was necessary,” one reviewer wrote. 

Another anonymous comment said, “New leadership in the Finance Department will require additional guidance and oversight in FY2026.”