Ben Barnes came to state government from the Bridgeport school system, where he had been chief operating officer for one year, but he spent roughly half of his professional career working in another administration helmed by Dannel P. Malloy.Barnes, born in 1968, served nearly a decade in Stamford, holding three top administrative posts and overseeing housing, budget and finance, and public works -- at various times during his tenure there. He was a government finance expert at the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities when then-Mayor Malloy first brought him into Stamford government in 2000.As secretary of OPM, Barnes now leads the Executive Branch's chief fiscal and policy agency. The office prepares the governor's budget proposal, monitors execution of the budget, negotiates contracts with state employee unions and provides a host of public policy planning services covering budget, criminal justice, labor, municipal affairs and other issues.Raised in St. Petersburg, Fla., Barnes lives in Stratford with his wife, Tania Collazo Barnes, and three sons.