Laura Glesby Photos
New LCI head Liam Brennan and former LCI head, new housing development czar Arlevia Samuel.
Former mayoral challenger Liam Brennan will have the chance to enact the “philosophy sea change” he called for last year in the Livable City Initiative (LCI) — as the department’s new director starting Monday.
Meanwhile, current LCI Director Arlevia Samuel is moving to a new position in the city focused on spurring affordable housing development.
Mayor Justin Elicker announced those appointments at a City Hall press conference at Friday afternoon.
Samuel will start on Monday working as a deputy in the Economic Development department helming a new “Housing and Administrative Services division” created in the Fiscal Year 2024 – 25 (FY 25) budget.
Brennan — a 2023 mayoral candidate whom Elicker hired in April as a consultant on how LCI should change course, after raising critiques of the department during his campaign — will take over Samuel’s role as LCI director.
Their appointments are the the latest step in the administration’s effort to refocus LCI on code and anti-blight enforcement for existing housing units, while shuffling the department’s affordable housing creation initiatives to a new division under the aegis of economic development.
“We need people waking up every single day laser-focused on two equally important goals,” said Elicker, referring to LCI’s new focus on residents’ current living conditions as well as efforts to build new affordable units.
Brennan, an attorney who previously served as Hartford’s inspector general, said he will continue to work on the report he was hired to produce as a consultant on how the Livable City Initiative can be streamlined and improved as a department. But his $15,000-per-month consulting contract will end once he starts as the department head on Monday.
When asked about any new ideas they plan to prioritize in their new roles, both Brennan and Samuel said they plan to “build on” work that LCI has already been undertaking.
Asked about LCI’s challenges in enforcing the city’s mandatory landlord licensing program, Brennan said that he’s been speaking with both city lawyers and LCI staff members about possible improvements to that program. He said he could not provide any specific ideas at this time.
Elicker mentioned a forthcoming forthcoming new “dashboard” with status updates on housing code inspections as one soon-to-materialize initiative, as well as the hiring of five new housing code inspectors approved for the FY 25 budget.
Brennan said he hopes to “simplify our procedures” and focus on the big-picture value that “fair housing is at the root of human dignity.”
Samuel has served as LCI’s director for nearly four years. She has spent her career both in local government and in private real estate. She described her role transition as “bittersweet,” saying that she’ll miss working with many of her LCI colleagues, though some are following her to form the new, 11-person Housing and Administrative Services division.
She reflected on her efforts to expand LCI’s outreach and presence at community events. “We went from a not-so-loved agency” to an agency with more public awareness and a better reputation, she said. “We care.”
She named the planned redevelopments of Union Station and the former Church Street South housing complex as two of the projects she’s excited to continue working on.
According to Elicker, the city has 3,500 new housing units “in the pipeline.”