Tirzah Kemp.
New Haven has a new “community resilience” chief and will soon have a new tax collector.
Those were among the latest moves recorded in the city’s weekly personnel report.
The Elicker Administration has hired veteran social-services official Tirzah Kemp to head the department of Community Resilience started March 11 at an annual salary of $125,000. She succeeds Carlos Sosa Lombardo. The department oversees city agencies working on homelessness, violence prevention, and other issues facing vulnerable residents.
Kemp’s previous jobs have included vice-president of community engagement and director of community and family engagement at Clifford Beers Clinic. She said her “passion lies” in crafting innovative approaches to helping people overcome trauma. She declared she’s ready to tackle challenges related to housing, hunger, violence, and poverty: “I am confident that by harnessing the strength of our community, alongside the dedication of service providers and the families we support, we can confront and overcome these obstacles together, ensuring a thriving future for all.”
Sosa Lombardo said he and his wife decided to relocate to New York “to be closer to our families.” “It has been a true honor to serve the City of New Haven.” He called his job assembling the community resilience team “a life-changing experience.” Mayor Justin Elicker called Sosa Lombardo “an incredibly hard-working problem solver.” He credited him, along with former Community Services Director Mehul Dalal, with organizing the city’s COMPASS team to help people in trouble who might otherwise get arrested; and the creation of a motel-like social services-supported facility for the homeless at a former Days Inn on Route 80.
Meanwhile, city Tax Collector Maurine Villani has retired effective Saturday. Elicker said his administration has not yet chosen a replacement.