The town of Wilton, Connecticut, is losing its CFO, Dawn Norton, who resigned amid allegations she had been working simultaneously as the town administrator in Greybull, Wyoming.
Norton, who took the Wilton CFO role in March 2022, was appointed to the Wyoming position in May. Local reporting in Wilton highlighted that, according to town officials, Norton took the job in Wyoming without fully informing leadership that she had accepted it. Norton denies this, insisting she was compliant.
While Norton’s employment contract allows outside work, it requires notifying the first selectman if she takes another job. Officials say she told First Selectwoman Toni Boucher in April that she might accept outside employment but did not follow up to confirm once she had. The town does not have a policy allowing permanent remote work. Public records in Wyoming show she has been present at Greybull council meetings, presenting financial reports, signing resolutions and managing town business while still employed in Wilton.
The discovery
Wilton Town Administrator Matt Knickerbocker, who also announced his resignation on Aug. 7 and has “a storm” of financial issues that have unfolded under his watch, told local reporters he learned of Norton’s Wyoming job over the weekend when the town’s human resources director noticed Norton listed on Greybull’s website.
Knickerbocker also said Norton confirmed the new role when he called her on Aug 4. It was during that phone call, according to Knickerbocker, that Norton formally resigned.
In an interview with CT Insider, Knickerbocker questioned how one person could effectively hold two full-time municipal leadership positions. “Nor can you have two full-time jobs with different employers. There’s not a direct conflict of interest in terms of the jobs, but how can you do it?” he said. “One side or the other is not going to get the full benefit of the person.”
He also added that he was aware of Norton’s travels to Wyoming during her time working for Wilton. “She had been out there for an extended period of time because [her husband] had been quite seriously injured and was not able to get around on his own, and needed assistance through his recovery,” he said. “He had broken a hip being thrown from a horse and was very temporarily incapacitated, so she had been commuting back and forth.”
Active in two town halls
Public records and local news in Wyoming show Norton has been active in Greybull’s municipal operations since her May appointment. She has attended council meetings where she presented monthly financial reports, signed official resolutions and reported on projects ranging from the sale of town-owned property to securing funding for a new police vehicle. She has also been involved in managing the delayed opening of the municipal pool and coordinating the town’s response to a water-main break that left dozens of residents without water for days this summer.
He also added that he was aware of Norton’s travels to Wyoming during her time working for Wilton. Her husband, Erick Norton, a former Bridgeport, Connecticut, police officer, has served as a detective for the Greybull Police Department since early 2024 and is reportedly recovering from an injury.
The editor of community newspaper Greybull Standard confirmed Norton’s identity after seeing her in attendance at a municipal meeting he had just covered. Reporters at Greybull Standard told GOOD Morning Wilton she is the same person photographed for recent Wilton Board of Finance coverage and noted she declined to be interviewed for the Wyoming paper upon taking the administrator role.
A salary notice published in Greybull Standard shows Norton earned $13,620 between her May hiring and the end of the fiscal year on June 30. Her predecessor’s annualized pay was more than $80,000. In Wilton, public records show Norton earned over $200,000 in 2024 and was the highest-paid employee in the town in 2023.
The discovery and leadership changes follow the town’s move to begin a process review of operations and financial procedures at Wilton’s Town Hall, as well as concerns about the finance department after auditors reported a material weakness and found the office staffed at only half-capacity.
Norton’s situation also reflects a larger trend of employees, including executives, taking on multiple jobs. In prior reporting, CFO.com has examined how financial stress, inflation and stagnant wages are driving this behavior. Surveys show many C-suite leaders are financially stressed despite large salaries, sometimes sacrificing personal time or pursuing more work to maintain their standard of living.
