Melissa Bailey Photo
The city is looking for a new public works chief now that Doug Arndt has left the building.
Mayor Toni Harp decided not to renew Arndt’s (pictured) contract as public works director. He worked his last day on Friday.
For now, Chief Administrative Officer Michael Carter will spend a few days a week at public works and run it along with deputies, Harp said Monday. She said no decision has been made yet whether to look outside the department for a replacement or to hire from within. The job pays $132,500 a year.
“There is some sense that there is untapped capability within the department,” Harp said.
Harp said she had told Arndt she would wait to decide on reappointing him until Carter had time to take the helm as chief administrative officer and assess where he wants to take the line departments he oversees, including public works. She said her administration now wants to take public works in a new direction.
“There seemed to be a little bit of a difference about how to move forward with getting some of these things implemented in the department,” Harp said. “They’ve done a lot of contracting out of work. They’re going to be bringing more of it in-house.” She suggested that the city might rely on staff to repair smaller sidewalks and to pave and mill smaller streets, for instance.
Arndt, who’s 45, told the Independent Monday that he felt he left the job on a positive note. “I hope if nothing else” that he and his team served as a stabilizing force during a time of transition in the city, and that they worked hard to clear streets during major snowstorms.
While waiting for the Harp administration to decide whether to keep him, Arndt said, he “passed up” “potential job opportunities” elsewhere. “I wasn’t going to jump ship prematurely,” he said. Now he’s back on the job market.
“I hope New Haven continues to improve and move forward,” he said.
Harp said she has full confidence in Carter’s ability to step in and help run the department before a new chief takes over. He previously ran pubic works departments in Washington, D.C., Indianapolis, and Louisville.
Former Mayor John DeStefano appointed Arndt in 2013 on a one-year contract. Arndt previously served as public works chief in the town of Monroe. Five days into his appointment Arndt was immediately thrust in overseeing snow removal during a once-in-a-century blizzard,while the mayor was in Ireland. Click on the video to watch him explain to a frustrated Fair Havener how he made decisions.
Harp is shown in this video with Arndt at public works headquarters in February 2014 thanking crews for their extra-duty work clearing the streets during another “grueling winter.”
In a letter to Arndt dated Friday, Carter wrote that “this decision is no reflection on your public works experience or knowledge but simply due to the city administration’s desire for a different management style going forward.” Carter wrote that according to memo of understanding, Arndt will be “available to consult on departmental matters” from Aug. 11 to Aug. 31, after he and department brass spend a week “work[ing] out who will do what and how we will communicate.”
Click here to read the letter.