Social-Services Chief Impresses Alders

The Harp administration’s new social services chief won a ringing endorsement Monday night during a confirmation hearing at City Hall.

The Board of Alders Aldermanic Affairs Committee voted unanimously at the end of the hearing to approve the appointment of Dakibu Muley to the position of community services administrator, a cabinet-level post that oversees all human services departments in city government as well as youth services and elderly services.

The appointment now comes before the full Board of Alders for final approval.

Before the vote, Muley answered questions from alders about his first five days on the job. Although he technically hasn’t been confirmed yet, he is permitted to begin doing the job pending that approval.

Muley told the alders that he has already met with an official of the APT Foundation about dealing with the opioid crisis as well as responding to problems caused in the Hill by customers of the foundation’s methadone clinic.

He has discussed with the one remaining staffer of the city’s prison reentry program, Earl Bloodworth, about how to restart it. And he has begun looking at how to retool the city’s programs addressing homelessness and food insecurity.

Muley also talked about the experiences he brings to the job. During 23 years as an employee of the state child-protection and social service departments, his duties included overseeing a range of programs from elderly services and Medical to child support and food stamps, he said. He spoke of learning his way around city government recently in a post-dorcoal placement in the mayor’s office.

“I came from humble beginnings” in a low-income family, Muley told the committee. Muley has a doctorate in business management from the University of Phoenix and masters degrees in social work and in urban studies from Southern Connecticut State University.

Committee Chair Evelyn Rodriguez asked him whether he might find working for the state Department of Children and Families ​“very different’ from the city’s Community Services Administration. Muley responded that he actually sees many similarities in the work.

Before voting to approve his appointment, Rodriguez and other committee members praised Muley for the approach he’s bringing to the job as well as for the initial steps he has taken in his first week.

Muley, who lives in Hamden, will need to move into New Haven within six months. The job pays $125,000 a year. He would replace Martha Okafor, who resigned as community services administrator last month amid some internal conflicts at City Hall.

Also at Monday night’s meeting, the committee voted unanimously to approve the appointments of Doreen Abubakar to the Solid Waste Authority, John Abbagnaro to the Port Authority, Sarah Locke to the Board of Zoning Appeals, and Manuel Rivera to the Cultural Affairs Commission; and the reappointments of Linda Townsend to the New Haven Redevelopment Agency board, and William Augustine Jr. and Vincent Fasano to the Solid Waste Authority board. Those appointments now all advance to the full Board of Alders for final approval.