Closed sidewalk on Davis Street, waiting for White to repair it.
White: Cross-border comity.
Stephen White, Hamden’s new town engineer wants stronger sidewalks, safer crosswalks, and a continued partnership with his counterpart to the south, New Havener of the Year Giovanni Zinn.
White, a past project manager with New Haven’s engineering department under Zinn, is one of three appointees Mayor Lauren Garrett announced Monday will be moving into Government Center. Garrett also named Safija Farooqui the acting chief assessor and Jeffrey Naples assistant fire chief.
“There are a few projects that were very important for the administration,” White said of his takeaways from his first day in office. Those include sidewalk improvements on Benham and Davis Streets; raised intersections at Farmington Canal crossways (“Having ridden my bike into New Haven from Hamden” for work each day, he said, “I definitely felt unsafe”); and collaborating with New Haven to create a regional animal shelter.
White told the Independent that his primary goal in the new job will be increasing walkability and pedestrian security in town.
“In cities like New Haven and towns like Hamden,” he said, establishing sustainable infrastructure systems “means a lot for how it can be done elsewhere in the country.”
While in New Haven, White led a team in replacing street sidewalks and reengineering curbs to promote visibility for drivers.
“Giovanni and I get along very well,” he reported, referring to New Haven’s city engineer.
The pair will work together to push New Haven’s plan of putting Whitney Avenue on a “road diet” into Hamden.
Before his time in New Haven, White worked for over ten years for the Philadelphia Water Department as a civil engineering supervisor. A press release sent out by Garrett’s office stated that White was “a team leader” in the department as “it became the first in the nation to commit to green infrastructure as the primary means of managing storm water.”
He received his associate of applied science in civil engineering technology degree from Wake Technical Community College (and met his wife, who teaches Civil Engineering at Quinnipiac University), then went on to receive his bachelor of science in construction management with a minor in business management from East Carolina University as well as a master of science in civil engineering degree from Drexel University.
Meanwhile, Hamden is poaching a second New Haven employee, Farooqui, to lead the Department of Assessment. An MBA degree certified Connecticut municipal assessor, Farooqui will serve as Hamden’s chief assessor after 14 years working in New Haven’s Department of Assessment.
Over in public safety, Jeffrey Naples, who has served in the Hamden Fire Department for 16 years, was promoted by Garrett to assistant fire chief. Naples comes to the job with a Masters of Science in Emergency Management from University of New Haven. He also attended the National Fire Academy.
“He has a proven track record as a Fire Officer, including Incident Management, Fireground Operations, Station Management and collaboration on administrative projects,” Garrett wrote in a press release. That same statement says that Naples plans to “prioritize physical and mental health, firefighter safety and the overall wellbeing of Hamden Fire Department employees.”
Garrett has yet to select a deputy police chief, a position that has been empty since early November, as well as another public works director, a title which opened up after Garrett’s first choice, Matt Kott, was removed from the job in February and returned to the engineering department.
Hope he focuses on the area up to SCSU, not just on the wealthy Whitney Avenue/Ridge Road corridor. It would be nice for Hamden residents who live or work over by West Rock, Arch Street and on the SCSU campus to be able to cross the town to access the Farmington Canal Trail without getting run over.