NEW YORK—Eric Eve, a veteran corporate and public policy strategist who currently serves as first deputy comptroller for the City of New York, will join WPP-owned RLM Finsbury—created last year by the merger of US corporate and financial communications specialist Robinson Lerer & Montgomery and UK financial consultancy Finsbury--as partner.

Eve has experience in government relations, public policy, regulatory affairs, issues management, community relations and finance in New York, Washington, DC, and internationally, and will expand RLM Finsbury’s government and public affairs capabilities.

As first deputy comptroller, Eve serves as COO for the fiscal office of the City of New York, where he manages a team of more than 700 employees and an annual operating budget of $74 million. He also supervises the City’s audits of municipal agencies, its settlement of claims, accounting procedures and contracts, and its enforcement of prevailing wage laws.

Prior to that, he was senior vice president at Citigroup, where he was the head of global community relations. Earlier, he served as VP of government relations for Verizon Communications and as special assistant for political affairs to President Clinton, Eve advising on matters affecting the northeastern US and African Americans nationally. He also held the senior intergovernmental relations position for New York State comptroller Carl McCall.