Carl Goldfield won a second term as Board of Aldermen president, vowing to encourage “creative” approaches to economic development and the brewing foreclosure crisis.
The aldermen voted unanimously to select Goldfield at their meeting Monday night. No one ran against him. It was a contrast to two years ago, when Goldfield accrued a bare majority in a contested race to defeat his opponent, Jorge Perez, 16 – 14.
Westville Alderman Sergio Rodriguez was unanimously elected to the board’s second top position, president pro tempore, Monday night.
“I want to see us be creative about making this a better place to live” over the next two years, Goldfield said after the meeting, when asked about his top priorities.
Specifically, he cited three main areas to which to apply that creativity:
Economic development. “This is going to be a tough budget year,” Goldfield. said. “So far the state has not been willing to ride to our rescue. The only means of alleviating the crushing burden on our taxpayers” is to lure new tax-paying businesses to the city.
Toward that end, Goldfield also endorsed an effort to incorporate “sustainability” and environmental consciousness into the board’s mission. The aldermen Monday night approved a proposal by Fair Haven Alderwoman Erin-Sturgis Pascale to add sustainability to the charge of the board’s Municipal Services Committee. Goldfield said that “making the city a more sustainable place to live, with good public transportation and support for people who want to bike, and improving our parks” all helps market New Haven to newcomers. “We have to sell ourselves differently: ‘You’re not living in the suburbs where to get a quart of milk [or go to work or a restaurant] you need to drive five miles.”
Goldfield has convened a working group on the board to explore ideas for helping families in danger of losing their homes. Foreclosures shot up 80 percent last year — and experts believe that’s only a hint of a bigger mortgage crisis to sweep the city and the nation in 2008. Click here to read a previous story about Goldfield’s plans.