Board committee advances slate of civic appointments, including youth and housing nominees

The New Haven Board of Alders Automatic Affairs Committee on Monday advanced a package of nominees to the full Board for confirmation, including appointees to the Affordable Housing Commission, Development Commission, Commission on Disabilities, Environmental Advisory Council, Food Policy Council, and the Youth Commission.

Chair Evette Hamilton opened the meeting with a reading of the public notice and the committee introduced members before hearing from each nominee. Crystal Fernandez, nominated to the Affordable Housing Commission, said affordable housing "is at the intersection of kind of every aspect of my life professionally and personally," citing 18 years of nonprofit experience, work at Common Ground High School and her role at Dixwell Q House. Lisa Brandes, for the Development Commission, described long familiarity with New Haven development and the Connecticut Main Streets model, saying the city has "been changing sometimes for good" but that officials must be careful about who benefits from new projects.

The nominee for the Commission on Disabilities identified in the record as Nikim Ji Hook described chronic health conditions and advocacy for accommodations in education and housing, saying the commission’s work "hits home for me." Environmental nominee Corey Creden detailed roughly 13 years in environmental work, including an EPA fellowship and a focus on environmental justice issues such as uneven street-tree coverage and coastal air pollution. Nicole Allen, nominated to the Food Policy Council, said urban agriculture and rooftop gardening informed her interest in translating research on diet and community health into local food-policy action.

The committee also heard from youth-appointee Sora Clemente, a 15-year-old Metropolitan High School student who told alder members she wants the Youth Commission seat so students can address school conditions — from restroom repairs to connections with guidance counselors — and urged officials to help create safer spaces for students to raise concerns. Elena Stone, nominated to the Youth Commission and introduced by a sitting judge, described background in developmental psychology and juvenile justice policy and said she had consulted existing commission members about the role.

After taking no public testimony, the committee closed the public portion and moved to votes. By voice vote the committee advanced items 1–5, 8 and 11 favorably to the full Board for confirmation. The Port Authority appointment of the Board of Alders’ representative, Leland Moore, was considered separately and was also advanced; the record shows one member abstained on that motion.

The committee passed over several items for which nominees were not present; those will be taken up at a future meeting. The full Board of Alders will consider the advanced nominations at an upcoming session.

Quotes in this article are drawn directly from the committee transcript and were attributed to nominees and committee members as recorded.