Board of Alders approves multiple appointments to city commissions; several nominations postponed or forwarded

The New Haven Board of Alders approved a series of appointments and reappointments to the city’s advisory boards and commissions and moved several other nominations for later consideration or referral to the full board.

The board approved appointments and reappointments for the Cultural Affairs Commission, Youth Commission, Commission on Equal Opportunities, City Plan Commission and others. Several nominees who did not appear were either withdrawn from consideration or sent to the full Board of Alders for discharge; one reappointment was postponed to the March meeting because of low attendance.

The board’s action affects appointments listed on the agenda as LM20250051, LM20250046, LM20240749, LM20240740, LM20250047, LM20250050, LM20250049 and related items. During discussion members flagged attendance records for several nominees and noted prior meeting absences for some candidates. The board also recorded term-end dates for certain appointments during the meeting.

Votes at a glance: - LM20250051 — Appointment of Lisa Stanger to the Cultural Affairs Commission: approved; term noted to end June 1, 2027 (replacing Francesca Rignola, as recorded at the meeting). - (Agenda code from packet) — Appointment of Tenzin Donnan (listed as Tenzing/Danda in the packet) to the Cultural Affairs Commission: approved; term noted to end June 1, 2026 (as announced during the meeting). - (Agenda code LM20250048/LM20250047 area) — Appointment of Nathan Earl to the Youth Commission: approved. - LM20250050 — Reappointment of Melissa Singleton to the Commission on Equal Opportunities: approved; attendance noted at about 80%. - (Agenda item) — Appointment of Ernest Pagan to the City Plan Commission: approved; attendance record of 72% was noted during discussion. - (Grouped items discharged to full board) — Reappointments of Joseph Edwards and Unidra Mule to the Homeless Advisory Commission, and reappointments of Dr. Alice Forrester and Greg (last name recorded as Consales/Consales) to the Board of Public Health: forwarded (discharged) to the full Board of Alders for final consideration because there was insufficient time for first-and-second readings at the committee meeting. - (Peace Commission) — Reappointment of Susie/Susan Henriquez (recorded as Susie Ann Henriques / Susan Henriquez in the packet/transcript): the committee withdrew the reappointment from immediate approval and agreed to revisit it at the March meeting; the record shows the nominee’s attendance at about 25%. - (Appointments not present) — Appointments of Eric Gonzalez to the Development Commission and Chiara/Chiara Shavira (environmental advisory candidate recorded as Shavira/Shavira/Shabera in the transcript) to the Environmental Advisory Council were withdrawn from the committee docket after discussion that both had not appeared for recent meetings. - (Peace Commission appointment) — Susan (surname recorded in packet as Eureka/Eriquez depending on the packet/transcript) was moved to March for reconsideration because she did not appear at the meeting.

Discussion and context Board members repeatedly raised attendance and availability as factors in whether to advance nominations. The committee referenced prior meetings when several nominees had failed to appear and noted that scheduling conflicts had been discussed previously with commission chairs. Members said that some nominees had arranged with chairs to change meeting times; others had not.

The committee also noted several procedural points: a portion of the nominees were forwarded to the full board because there was not enough time for both first and second hearings during the committee meeting; where nominees did not appear, the committee either withdrew the items or postponed them to provide time for the nominee to appear at a later date.

What the committee said it would do next The committee discharged several appointments to the full Board of Alders for final action and scheduled at least one reappointment for reconsideration at the March committee meeting. The meeting record shows staff member Alex Gisney will follow up with appointees about next steps and paperwork.

Ending No formal roll-call vote counts were recorded in the committee transcript for each item; the minutes register motions made, seconds and the motion outcome (for example, “the motion carries” or “the motion is discharged to the full board”). Several items will face further review at the full board or at the March committee meeting.