Thomas MacMillan file photo
Carl Goldfield: Suiting back up for volunteer government service.
The mayor has tapped former Board of Alders President Carl Goldfield to return to City Hall — this time as a volunteer land-use commissioner.
Mayor Justin Elicker has appointed Goldfield—a 19-year former Beaver Hills alder who spent six years as alders president—to serve as an alternate member on the City Plan Commission.
On Monday night, the Aldermanic Affairs Committee alders unanimously endorsed Goldfield’s appointment. They also unanimously backed the mayor’s appointment of another new City Plan Commission alternate, Edwin Martinez, who is a Fair Haven resident, engineer, and adjunct professor at Gateway Community College.
Both new City Plan Commission appointments now go back to the full Board of Alders for consideration and a final vote later this spring.
If approved, Goldfield would replace outgoing alternate Elias Estabrook on the local land-use board. Martinez would replace outgoing alternate Kevin DiAdamo, but only if he changes his political party registration from his current affiliation as a Democrat, in order to meet the board’s minority party representation requirement.
The City Plan Commission has emerged in recent years as one of the most consequential public bodies in city government.
As landlords, developers, and their attorneys continue to rush to build primarily new market-rate apartments across the city, they must first win site plan approval from the commission. That building boom has led to City Plan Commission meetings that have lasted six hours a piece, with commissioners reviewing plans for dozens, sometimes hundreds, of new apartments in a single night.
With the City Plan director promising to prioritize an overhaul of the city’s zoning code, the commission is slated to be a critical venue for public workshops and debates about housing, parking, and the shape of the city’s built environment in the years and decades to come.
If approved by the Board of Alders, Goldfield and Martinez would be the first new members of the City Plan Commission since Ernest Pagan joined the board more than three years ago.
In a phone interview with the Independent Tuesday afternoon, Goldfield said the mayor called and asked him if he’d be willing to serve on the board.
After spending a decade away from City Hall following his 19-year tenure as an alder, Goldfield said, he’s ready to jump back into public service.
“I really don’t have an agenda,” he said when asked for why he wanted to serve on the City Plan Commission in particular. “I think I’m a fair-minded person who’s reasonably intelligent, and I really like New Haven.”
A lawyer who focuses on contracts and estate planning, Goldfield said he has no background in land use law.
Nevertheless, he has kept up with city, state, and national debates about zoning reform and the dearth of affordable housing. He said he’s encouraged by the nascent city plans to make it easier to build accessory dwelling units, and is open to hearing any arguments that residents or experts may have for or against.
After he lost his Beaver Hills seat on the Board of Alders in 2011 to current Ward 29 Alder Brian Wingate, Goldfield said, “I was burned out. I just wanted to be able to go home after work, eat dinner, sit around, read a book,” and not have to stay at City Hall until 11 p.m. on weeknights before going to work the following day.
“I got a good rest,” he said. And is now ready to return to government service.
“Not An Expert, But I’m Willing To Learn”
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Edwin Martinez.
During his committee interview on Monday night, Martinez told the alders that he too is interested in serving on the local land use commission not because of any expertise in the area, but because of his commitment to the city he grew up in and still calls home.
“I am not an expert on city planning. There’s a lot of learning I would be subject to. And I’m willing to take on the role,” he said Monday night. “I want to make sure people on this commission — that we have normal residents who are able to have a voice and have a say in our government. To me, I think this is a way to do that.”
A lifelong city resident and “proud resident of Fair Haven,” Martinez said he sits on a number of local nonprofit boards, and previously served as the vice-chair of the city’s Youth Commission. “I’m always looking for ways to get involved in the city,” he said.
He currently works as an engineer and as an adjunct engineering professor at Gateway Community College.
“I wanted to get an opportunity to serve at another level throughout the city,” Martinez told the alders Monday night. “I’m not an expert, but I’m willing to learn.”
Make no mistake about it. These are purely political appointments. Applicants must pledge allegiance to Mayor Elicker before being appointed. I refused to do so, So, Mayor Elicker passed me over for a position on FRAC despite being a long-time city resident and a CPA with an MBA in Finance and 20 years experience as a CFO. Meanwhile, residents with zero experience are sitting on FRAC, and hardly any of the current members of FRAC show up regularly. And it's not just FRAC. Mayor Elicker also passed over former NHFD Chief Grant for a position on the Fire Commission. Chief Grant is considered by many to be the most knowledgeable person in the City with respect to the NHFD.
Many people have asked why, 16 months into the Elicker administration, there are still so many open commission positions. It's because Mayor Elicker is more interested in his own political survival, than bringing much-needed professional expertise to the city.