Rockford native named city’s new finance director

Staff Report

Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey announced at the March 5 city council meeting that he has chosen Rockford native Christopher Black as his new finance director.

Black is the current city administrator for the City of McHenry, Ill. Previous to his position as city administrator, he was the finance director for the City of McHenry and was formerly employed by the City of Rockford as its Central Services manager and as a financial analyst. He holds a master’s degree in public and environmental affairs from Indiana University and has a bachelor of science in political science and history from Illinois State.

Black will replace Andres Sammul, who retired as finance director in August 2011. The national search for the replacement was conducted by Voorhees & Associates. As part of the recruitment effort, the City established a search committee comprised of Alderman Bill Robertson; Alderman Doug Mark; Jim Ryan, city administrator; Julia Valdez, Human Resources director; Einar Forsman, president of the Rockford Area Chamber of Commerce; Vint Buckwalter, finance director at Hamilton Sundstrand; and Barb Jackson, corporate controller at Liebovich Steel. The choice to recommend Black to the mayor for final consideration was based upon the unanimous endorsement of the selection committee membership.

Christopher Black has accepted the offer of employment with the City of Rockford, and with city council approval of his appointment, he would start his employment with the City effective May 1, 2012. “Given his municipal experience as a city administrator for a mid-sized city in Illinois, along with his extensive municipal finance background, he will be able to hit the ground running and will be an excellent addition to the City executive team,” Mayor Morrissey stated in a memo to aldermen.

From the March 7-13, 2012, issue