Harp Tells First Wave Of Mayoral Appointees She Won’t Keep Them On

Ten mayoral appointees learned Thursday that they won’t have City Hall jobs come Jan. 1. Another four learned that they will, if they’d like to stay.

That news came in the form of letters from Mayor-Elect Toni Harp.

Harp sent the letter to the 14 mayoral appointees whose terms expire Jan. 1 along with the City Hall career of their boss, retiring 10-term incumbent Mayor John DeStefano.

Harp (pictured speaking Thursday evening at an unrelated City Hall press conference) stressed that she was in no way intended to criticize the employees with the letter. Rather, she wanted to give them a timely head’s up.

“This is no way reflects their contribution to the people of New Haven or the manner in which they went about doing their job. I would like to commend Mayor DeStefano for the quality of his staff,” Harp told the Independent Thursday evening.

“I’m bringing in my own team. This is to be expected in a democracy where there are changes that are made. We’ve kept some people. There will probably be another round of those at the end of January when other terms expire.”

Harp asked the following appointees to stay on: Budget Director Joe Clerkin, Corporation Counsel Victor Bolden, and mayoral aides Patricia Lawlor and Bianca Bowles.

Harp informed the following appointees that she will not reappoint them: City Administrative Officer Rob Smuts, human services chief Althea Brooks, Development Administrator Kelly Murphy, legislative liaisons Matthew Smith, prison reentry coordinator Eric Rey, mayoral spokesman Anna Mariotti, Chief of Staff Sean Matteson, mayoral aides Rosemarie Lemley, Rebecca Bombero and Maria Cruz.

A number of those officials had already planned to leave City Hall and are in the process of lining up other jobs. Lemley, who has worked in City Hall for 30 years, has long said she would retire when DeStefano leaves.

Harp has publicly praised Bombero’s work, singling out her and Police Chief Dean Esserman during the mayoral campaign when asked which appointees she would like to keep on board. Harp said Thursday that she does want to explore keeping Bombero in City Hall in another position.

The terms of other top officials — like Livable City Initiative chief Erik Johnson and Fire Chief Michael Grant — do not expire until February.

Former Board of Aldermen President Tomás Reyes is expected to serve as Harp’s chief of staff. (Read about that here.) Laurence Grotheer is in line to become mayoral spokesman, and former Chamber of Commerce President Matthew Nemerson, Harp’s development chief.