FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Heather Habelka, Office of the Mayor, 203.385.4001

Mayor Miron Announces Hiring of Conservation Administrator & Grant Writer

Stratford, Connecticut (December 8, 2008) - Mayor James R. Miron today announced the hiring of Brian Carey as Conservation Administrator and Christina Kazanas as Grant Writer.

Brian V. Carey – Conservation Administrator

Brian Carey has joined the Town as Conservation Administrator. In this role, he will be responsible for providing environmental conservation programs and enforcing environmental conservation regulations.

Prior to joining the Town, Mr. Carey served as a Senior Staff Scientist at LFR Inc. in the Sandy Hook office. Mr. Carey’s responsibilities included the preparation of Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs), Superfund Site management and maintenance, hydrogeological investigations, groundwater treatment system design, installation and operation and maintenance, and technical report preparation.

In addition, Mr. Carey has experience in the preparation of environmental permits for emergency wastewater discharges, significant environmental hazard reports, Connecticut (CT) Property Transfer Act Documents, and the underground storage tank (UST) reimbursement fund.

His field experience includes remediation oversight, soil, groundwater, and air sampling, and operations and maintenance of remedial remedies. Mr. Carey has also provided professional oversight on a wide range of field services including UST removals, bid specification preparations, sensitive receptor surveys, and contaminated soil management and removal.

He graduated with a B.S. in Natural Resource Management from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 2000.

Mr. Carey is filling the vacant position created with the retirement of William McCann. In addition to his duties as Conservation Administrator, he will be handling special projects for the Office of the Director of Public Works.

Mr. Carey began his employment with the Town on December 1, 2008.

Christina Kazanas – Grant Writer

Christina Kazanas has joined the Town of Stratford as grant writer.

In her role, Ms. Kazanas will build on the existing base of grant awards that have already been awarded to the Town, implement a system that will streamline these efforts and lead the Town to many successful grant awards. Ms. Kazanas will be part of the Office of the Chief Administrator, and will be based in Town Hall in the Economic Development Office.

Prior to joining the Town, Ms. Kazanas worked for the City of Bridgeport as a grant writer, where she developed grant proposals supporting new and on-going projects and initiatives. During her tenure in Bridgeport, she submitted proposals supporting economic development, planning and zoning activities, brownfield remediation, water pollution mitigation, historic preservation, tree planting, open space acquisition, flood control, clean fuel vehicle purchasing, and Mayor Bill Finch’s “B-Green” Sustainability Initiative. In 8 months, she procured nearly $500,000 in grant funding, with an additional $3.3 million in pending applications.

Prior to her time at the City of Bridgeport, Ms. Kazanas served as Chief Operating Officer of two non-profit organizations, and served as Director of State and Local Policy at the New York AIDS Coalition, an umbrella advocacy organization representing funding and policy priorities of people living with and at risk for HIV/AIDS. Her grant writing experience in these various capacities have brought in over $1 million in funding from Federal Health and Human Services sources, and her leadership efforts in local and state budget advocacy in New York led to the procurement of over $5 million in new HIV prevention and treatment resources for program across New York City and New York State.

Ms. Kazanas holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Indiana University, and a Masters of Science in Social Work from Columbia University. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Women’s Initiative to Stop HIV/AIDS (WISH), a program of the Legal Action Center in New York City. She has served as a committee member on the New York City Ryan White Title I Planning Council, and has been involved in a number of women’s health advocacy groups.

Ms. Kazanas began her employment with the Town on December 1, 2008.