Goldson’s Gambit

In a battle over the fate of a West Rock Army base, Alderman Darnell Goldson made a move to show that aldermen are not pawns. Chief Administrative Officer Rob Smuts countered with an unexpected appointment — of Goldson himself.

The chess moves took place at a Board of Aldermen meeting Tuesday night. It touched on the process for deciding the future of an old army base — and on how City Hall and legislative dissenters conduct business with each other.

Goldson (at left in photo), a freshman alderman from West Rock and an outspoken critic of the city administration, had added an item to the agenda for the meeting. The addition represented a challenge to the power of the administration. Goldson proposed that the board immediately appoint at least two people to a commission previously filled only with mayoral appointees.

That commission is the Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA), a panel charged with deciding what to do with a to-be-vacated Army Reserve base on the campus of Southern Connecticut State University.

The base is in West Rock’s Ward 30, Goldson’s ward. The alderman had complained that the mayor had not appointed anyone to the LRA, even after the mayor’s chief of staff had promised a Ward 30 appointment in October.

Since no such appointment had been made, Goldson decided the Board of Aldermen should make its own appointments. He put up two motions on Tuesday’s agenda that would have immediately placed him and two other West Rockers on the LRA.

Then, at the very last minute before, Goldson’s move was stalled by a surprise letter from CAO Rob Smuts (at right in photo, delivering the letter). The letter notified Goldson that the mayor had appointed him to the board.

Smuts said the appointment had been delayed by a miscommunication between his office and the mayor’s.

Goldson accepted his appointment. He agreed to take his motions to make independent additions to the LRA off the Board of Aldermen’s fast track. But he kept alive the idea of having the aldermen, not just the mayor’s office, pick people for the body.

Instead of seeking to have the aldermen vote to approve the idea immediately by unanimous consent, he agreed to have his proposal for alderman appointments now go through the Aldermanic Affairs Committee and be subject to public hearing. He later said that the turn of events marked a victory for the Board of Aldermen.

The Opening

Goldson, who was elected as Ward 30 alderman last year, campaigned for the position on a platform of greater representation for West Rock. He announced his candidacy armed with a report showing that the mayor had not appointed anyone from Ward 30 to serve on a city board.

Following his victory in the Democratic primary, Goldson wrote a letter to the mayor, requesting that he appoint a Ward 30 resident to the LRA. Ina packet released on Tuesday, Goldson included his written request, along with the response of Sean Matteson, the mayor’s chief of staff. In that letter, dated Oct. 7, Matteson wrote that the mayor had recommended that CAO Smuts select a West Rock resident to be on the LRA.

The appointment never happened. Meanwhile, the LRA met three times.

Goldson made another written request on Jan. 12. Then, in an email on Tuesday morning, Goldson announced he would be putting forward nominations to the LRA at that evening’s Board of Aldermen meeting.

“This request will be unusual since it will directly challenge the mayor’s authority to unilaterally appoint this board, which is not outlined in either the City Charter or City Ordinances,” Goldson wrote.

Neither city statutes nor federal guidelines indicate whether the mayor or the Board of Aldermen has the ability to appoint LRA members, Goldson said. In most cities faced with similar circumstances, city councils have taken the lead, he said.

Mid-Game

At an unrelated public event immediately before the Board of Aldermen’s meeting, the mayor expressed surprise that West Rock LRA appointments had been delayed.

“It just hit my desk today,” he said. DeStefano said he had signed a letter appointing Goldson and former Ward 30 Alderwoman Michelle Sepulveda to the LRA that afternoon.

DeStefano said that CAO Smuts had been handling the matter and that he had not known of any commitment regarding appointments.

Moments later, at a pre-meeting public information session. Smuts presented Goldson with his appointment letter (pictured above).

The appointment should have been made earlier, Smuts said. The delay was due to a ​“lack of communication between my office and the mayor’s office.”

“It was my fault,” Smuts said.

Newly appointed, Goldson still had to work out what to do with his motions to appoint West Rockers to the LRA that night.

He initially argued that they should stay on the unanimous consent agenda, as a statement about the power of the Board of Aldermen.

“It’s important for us as a board to make sure the administration understands we are an equal body,” he told his fellow aldermen, during the information session.

Smuts rose to apologize and to ask that voting be delayed. ​“I do accept responsibility and I do apologize very sincerely,” he said. But he asked the aldermen to wait to vote on any appointments to the LRA until after the city’s corporation counsel has a chance to look at the issue. Smuts later explained that it is unclear if the Board of Aldermen has the authority to appoint LRA members. If the LRA is not run according to federal regulations, it could cause problems later on, he said.

Goldson argued that the Board of Aldermen is empowered to appoint LRA members. ​“I think we should use that power tonight,” he said. ​“It’s important for this board to make an appointment to this commission.”

As the public information session broke up, the fate of Goldson’s motions was still unclear. Smuts and East Rock Alderman Roland Lemar approached Goldson to continue to push for postponement. The items should wait until the next meeting of the Board of Aldermen, Lemar said. ​“Everything you’re saying can be done in two weeks, after a legal opinion from corp counsel,” he told Goldson.

As they walked into the Aldermanic Chambers, Goldson and Smuts continued to debate the issue.

“I want to make sure we do it right,” Smuts said. He promised not to stand in the way of a public debate on the appointments.

Goldson asked for five minutes to think it over.

“I can understand the alderman’s annoyance with this process,” Smuts said. ​“It was an honest mess-up.”

End Game

In the end, Goldson’s withdrew his two resolutions from the fast track. They were passed as ​“Communications,” meaning they will be heard by committee before being voted on. The amendments will be folded into a single two-part item that will propose the appointment of Goldson and West Rock residents Honda Smith and Leroy Jenkins to the LRA.

“We’re committed to a collaborative process,” Smuts said after the voting. ​“There’s nothing about this that should be contentious.”

“We won,” said Goldson. ​“We got the administration’s attention. The board flexed its muscles.”

He said he did not believe the delay in West Rock LRA appointments had been accidental, as Smuts claimed. ​“Not for a second,” he said. ​“I think they were going to ignore me until they couldn’t.” The salaries in the mayor’s and the CAO’s office are ​“too high for there have been a miscommunication,” he said.

Goldson said he was surprised that he was the mayor’s appointee. ​“I thought it was kind of funny.”

The next meeting of the LRA is Feb. 2. Goldson said he does not have a particular agenda for the LRA meetings. He said he just wants to look out for West Rock. ​“I want to make sure our interests are protected.”