Carlo Sarmiento at a public meeting in October.
DERBY — Carlo Sarmiento, the city’s building official, abruptly resigned Friday.
Sarmiento’s departure was a surprise. It came at the end of a two-week vacation, Andrew Baklik, Mayor Rich Dziekan’s chief of staff, said.
Ansonia’s part-time building inspectors, Nick Behun and Dave Montefusco, are currently covering building inspections and building plan reviews, according to Baklik.
“The city is exploring long-term solutions including potential to share building official(s) with surrounding municipalities,” Baklik said.
Sarmiento was appointed by then-Mayor Anthony Staffieri in 2013.
Sarmiento often said his goal was to increase revenue for the city by making it easier to apply for permits. He often advocated for the use of technology in the building department.
He also played an important role in Derby’s battle against blighted properties, a major issue in town.
But he ran into controversy in the summer of 2020 when the Derby Planning & Zoning Commission started to look into whether a pro-police motorcycle club’s use of a Burtville Avenue building violated Derby’s zoning rules.
Sarmiento, a member of the motorcycle club, was the person who was supposed to enforce the zoning rules. Click here for a story.
The building official’s friends started a GoFundMe page in case Sarmiento needed legal counsel. The page accused some people in Derby of being “anti-cop.”
At the time, Sarmiento said he held three titles in Derby City Hall — building official, zoning enforcement officer, and wetland enforcement officer.
In July 2020, as the city looked into the situation, he resigned from two of his three titles, keeping only the building official title.
Since he had less responsibilities, the Derby Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen in October voted 7 – 2 to slash his salary by about $25,000 — from $85,364 annually to $60,000.
In March 2019, Sarmiento denied access to a document connected to a dilapidated building on Main Street across from Derby City Hall. The Valley Indy filed a Freedom of Information complaint against Sarmiento and the City of Derby.
Derby negotiated a settlement that was supposed to result in city employees receiving open government training if The Valley Indy withdrew the complaint. The Valley Indy withdrew the complaint based on this promise.
However, the city never lived up to its promise, and only had Sarmiento attend a training session.
The Main Street building is now adorned with blue scaffolding and remains a highly visible eyesore.
In addition to having Ansonia cover building official duties, Derby government is looking to hire a zoning enforcement officer who will split time between Derby and the Town of Bethany.
