Garrett Hires New Public Works Director, Nominates 3 Cop Commissioners

On her second Monday morning in office, Hamden Mayor Lauren Garrett and Chief of Staff, Sean Grace arrived at Public Works’ headquarters on Shepard Avenue at 7 a.m. with pastries from Whitney Donut and 54 unionized employees’ new boss: Matthew Kott. 

Garrett fired the longtime Public Works Director Craig Cesare, the first of numerous expected upcoming changes in town government.

Kott is transitioning from his title as an inspector within the Engineering Department, a role he has held since July of this year, to his new position of acting director of public works. Kott holds a Masters of Science in Aerospace Engineering, 15 years of experience as a project manager for defense contractors like Pratt & Whitney, and served in the Army Corps of Engineers. 

Cesare, who did not respond to requests for comment from the Independent, leaves the department after 10 years at the helm. Before that, he worked as a partner with Raskopf Beacon Construction LLC and served as a Republican at-large representative on the town’s Legislative Council.

The change in powers ​“has nothing to do with Craig Cesare,” Grace stated. ​“It’s about Lauren’s vision for the department.”

Garrett noted that the job is an appointed position coterminous with the mayor, as laid out in the charter. Cesare is among numerous departmental leaders who may be removed and/or replaced depending on whom the new administration wants to bring in to supervise the town’s operations — and how it plans to consolidate or reorganize town government.

So far, there have yet to be any other ​“fires,” though Kenneth Kelley, Hamden’s director of personnel, has retired and been replaced by Brigitte Cogswell, who previously worked as a human resources officer. 

Garrett’s ​“vision” — of a new Hamden built on sustainable and restorative economic and social policies, as she described during election season — is most clearly exhibited through her recent selection of three individuals to serve on Hamden’s Police Commission: Elaine Dove, a social worker by trade who is also a member of the Democratic Town Committee; Rhonda Caldwell, the lead organizer of social justice organization Hamden Action Now, which has called for the removal of school resource officers from the Hamden school district and more diverse police and fire staff; and Daniel Dunn, a Working Families Party member who currently serves on the town’s technology commission.

The Legislative Council will vote on those three candidates’ nominations Dec. 13. If confirmed, Dunn will fill one of the minority party seats currently held by a Republican, Chairman Mike Iezzi. 

The other two terms of the five seats on the commission will expire in January, at which point Garrett will choose another pair of individuals to appoint.

On Monday morning, Kott described his priorities for his new position at public works: Using his background in engineering to prioritize climate change informed infrastructure; rehabbing sidewalks for a more walkable Hamden; and diversifying an all-white, all-male department to better reflect Hamden’s natural demographics. 

“Craig was an excellent director of public works,” Kott said, ​“and a trusted member of the senior management to the town and to former Mayor [Curt] Leng.” 

“I want to build upon his continuous improvements with the department,” he said — while speaking of room for new ideas and leadership.

“I first serve the residents of the town of Hamden,” he said. ​“Those are my customers.”

His second aim is to execute ideas put forward by Garrett during her campaign, like creating a public municipal maintenance plan to clearly notify Hamden residents when work is expected in their neighborhood. 

Garrett pointed to Kott’s experience managing large-scale projects with union workforces and writing up detailed documentation of spending as important skills for a department head to hold within her administration. As federal money rolls in for infrastructure work and the new administration begins to restructure the town’s current budget, Garret said, she needs to count on department leaders to keep clear and transparent track of their expenditures.

In terms of diversifying the public works workforce, Kott said that four positions — one truck driver and three laborers — will need to be filled by June. He said he will prioritize placing women and people of color in those spots. 

Meanwhile, Garrett’s appointments have been seen as disappointments for those who valued Cesare’s tenure.

Former Mayor Curt Leng, who lost to Garrett in his campaign for a fourth full term, remembered Cesare’s accomplishments as ​“constantly improving efficiency, response time in emergency and constant cost savings with every well thought out recommended change,” describing his dismissal as ​“a huge loss for Hamden, as he was shockingly removed on Friday by the new administration.”

Marjorie Bonadies, the Republican majority leader on Hamden’s Legislative Council, wrote on Facebook that Cesare ​“was read a letter from the chairman by her chief of staff who also doubles as the DTC chair and her campaign manager… he was forbidden from even cleaning out his office as his keys were taken away… this is how she treats outstanding employees, terminating him at the end of the workday a couple a weeks before Christmas.”

In the meantime, public works employees are continuing to perform the daily labor that keeps the town running.

Mike Siciliano, the assistant director of public works who’s been in the department for 24 years, said that while Cesare was an ​“outstanding” director, he also said that ​“we’ve always gotten the work done,” and that the department will continue to do so with Garrett’s guidance.

Kott offered up his own work life philosophy, a riff on a Michael Jordan quote: ​“Individuals play the game — teams beat the odds.”