ANSONIA – The Ansonia Board of Aldermen approved a contract Aug. 12 which allows former economic development director Sheila O’Malley to continue doing work for the city while she works full time in Shelton.
O’Malley said an agreement between the two cities could be formalized soon. However, the partnership is already happening, according to an article from The Connecticut Post.
O’Malley said her contract calls for the City of Ansonia to pay the Shelton Economic Development Corporation (EDC) $50,000 per year for her services.
In exchange, the Shelton EDC would manage Ansonia’s brownfields projects, including the ongoing demolition and redevelopment of Ansonia Copper & Brass.
The Valley Indy requested the contract on Aug. 28 but did not receive a response.
O’Malley was the Ansonia Economic Development Director and grant writer from 2014 until May of this year, when she resigned to become president of the Shelton EDC, a nonprofit formed in 1983, according to the organization’s federal tax filings.
The Shelton EDC has helped to obtain and administer grants that helped breathe new life into Shelton’s downtown. It’s a quasi-public group, meaning that although its work is done to improve downtown Shelton, it’s not part of Shelton government.
O’Malley is being paid $120,000 annually by the Shelton EDC.
The arrangement allows O’Malley to still have a hand in long-running redevelopment efforts in Ansonia, including efforts to get fuel cells and data centers built at the Copper & Brass site.
The deal between the two cities is complicated. The Shelton Board of Aldermen have to adopt an ordinance allowing the Shelton Economic Development Commission (a government body separate from the economic development corporation) to allow the development corporation to do out-of-town work.
The new ordinance could be adopted by the Shelton Aldermen at a meeting scheduled for Sept. 11. If that happens, the contract would go to the Shelton EDC Executive Board for approval, according to O’Malley.
Ansonia and Shelton have been working on an agreement since April. O’Malley has been providing input and guidance at Ansonia meetings on topics including renovations at the animal shelter and soil remediation on Olson Drive, even though she left her position in May.
She said she is no longer paid by the City of Ansonia.
Her presence at Ansonia Aldermen meetings briefly became the subject of an argument during a public hearing Aug. 12, when former Democratic Alderwoman Tara Kolakowski criticized her continued role in the city.
“You still work for the city? You should be seen and not heard. You’re in Shelton,” Kolakowski said.
“Please stop berating city staff,” Aldermanic President Joshua Shuart replied.
The city has not hired anyone to replace O’Malley as economic development director or grant writer since her departure.
The arrangement in Shelton, while complicated, isn’t unique. O’Malley previously worked as Seymour’s part-time economic development director while working full-time in Ansonia. Similarly, Kurt Miller works in both Ansonia City Hall and Seymour Town Hall.