New Haven Independent

This list includes two kinds of information:
â—? The names and jobs of relatives who work either for organizations doing business with the city; or who work for the city itself.
â—? The names of local “private or non-profit boards, commission, and/or task forces” on which the officials sit.

It should be noted that this information isn’t necessarily negative. Sitting on boards and commissions is a volunteer activity that requires time and hard work; a problem arises only if that work somehow compromises government decisions that officials make, or if the work involves the trading of government favors. The same holds true if an official happens to have a relative also working city government. (Another question: Do officials’ relatives have unfair access to competitive public jobs?)

The law requires officials to file these forms so the public can make up its own mind about whether conflicts of interest exist.

The potentially most important information on these forms is the listing of “all direct and indirect financial interests which I, or a member of my immediate family have in any contact with the City of New Haven or in any firm (excluding publicly held corporations) or organization transacting business with the City of New Haven during my term of office or employment.”

That’s particularly interesting information when it comes to the city’s budget director, who plays a key role in city investments and contracting. However the budget director is the one official who doesn’t file a disclosure form. That’s because this powerful official, Frank Altieri, is not technically a “city employee”; he works on a year-by-contract which has been renewed every year since John DeStefano became mayor in 1994. This arrangement of legal fiction exists so that Altieri, a former school administrator, can double-dip from taxpayer-funded coffers; he can continue to claim he has retired from government service and collect a pension while also collecting a salary —- er, fee —- for overseeing the city budget. This arrangement also allows him to wiggle out of filing a disclosure form that would allow the public to know about his potential conflicts of interest. Mayor DeStefano doesn’t require Altieri to file the form.

None of the officials who did file disclosure forms had any such financial interests to report. Here’s what those officials did report about relatives’ jobs and service on not-for-profit boards.

Mayor John DeStefano
â—? Daniel DeStefano, Fusco Corporation, summer employment
â—? Joan Hill (Sister), Education Department, teacher
â—? James DeStefano (son), Education Department, summer school teacher

Mark Pietrosimone, Controller
â—? Lisa (wife), Grade 5 teacher, Nathan Hale
â—? Jaime (child), student intern, Commission on Equal Opportunities
â—? Kelly (child), camp counselor (summer), parks and rec
â—? Carleen Lafitte (relation), finance
â—? Kristen Bayer (relation), health
â—? Marie Bayer (relation), finance
â—? Richard Bayer (relation), corporation counsel

â—? City Employees Retirement Fund, trustee
â—? New Haven Water Pollution Control Authority, committee member
â—? Citywide School building Committee, member
â—? Golf Course Advisory Board, committee member
â—? Litigation Settlement Committee, committee member
â—? Policemen and Firemen Retirement Fund, clerk to trustees

John Buturla, Chief Administrative Officer
â—? Special Olympics, Connecticut, Board of Directors

Karyn Gilvarg, City Plan Director

â—? New Haven Colony Historical Society, Board of Directors
â—? New Haven Preservation Trust, Consultant Board
â—? Rideworks, Inc., board member

Sheila Bell, Community Services Director

â—? Empower New Haven, secretary
â—? Visiting Nurse Assocation, director
â—? Connecticut Mental Health Center, advisory member
â—? Hospital of St. Raphael, Mission Effectiveness member

Thomas Ude, Jr., Corporation Counsel

â—? Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund, Board of Director
â—? Love Makes a Family, chapter coordinator/ Steering Committee member

Pierrette Comulada Silverman, Elderly Services Director

â—? Mia Comulada (relation), Officer of Management and Budget

â—? Junta for Progressive Action, board president
â—? Greater New Haven Transit District, board secretary

Richard Miller, Director, Public Works and Engineering

â—? Georgia Miller (wife), LCI, member

â—? City Plan Commission, member
â—? Port Authority, member
â—? Citywide School Construction Board, member

Michael Grant, Fire Chief

â—? Patrick (son), firefighter

Tina Burgett, Human Services Director

â—? Sarah Burgett-Leutner (relation), marketing manager, International Festival of Arts & Ideas
â—? Jessica Erin (relation), (occasional) student intern

James C. Welbourne, City Librarian

â—? Long Wharf Theatre, board member
â—? LEAP, board member

Karen DuBois-Walton, Chief of Staff

â—? Kevin Walton (spouse), Parks Commission, commissioner; girls basketball coach

â—? Student Parenting & Family Services, president
â—? United Way of Greater New Haven, board member

Francisco Ortiz, Police Chief

â—? Francisco D. Ortiz (son), police recruit

â—? United Way, board member
â—? Easter Seals, board member
â—? Farnam House, board member
â—? Casa Otonal, board member

Walter Esdaile, Small Business Initiative Administrator

â—? Sharyn A. Esdaile (wife), A.C.E.S., employee
â—? Ernestine Taylor (sister), Adult Education (Board of Education), part-time instructor

â—? Tweed Airport Authority, member

Paul Wessel, Traffic & Parking Director

â—? Sandra Malmquist (wife), Connecticut Children’s Museum, employee; Creating Kids Childcare Center, director

â—? Grand Avenue Village Association (GAVA), ex-officio board member
â—? Connecticut Children’s Museum, board member