The Derby Parking Authority started with a clean slate Tuesday, with Mayor Anita Dugatto appointing four new members to replace those who resigned in protest two weeks ago.
The members quit because Derby Aldermen did not schedule a multi-million dollar referendum on repairs needed at the garage. Click here for a previous story.
The new members, Dugatto told reporters after a special meeting of the Board of Aldermen, are Anthony Dulla, Susan Baum, Cheryl Pereiras and Bill Boland.
They join Richard Bartholomew, the only member who didn’t resign at the end of August.
The new members were appointed directly by the mayor. She did not need the Board of Aldermen’s approval, as per the Derby City Charter.
Still up in the air — the city’s long-term plan for the 300-space building, which is in severe disrepair.
But the new Dugatto appointees will, presumably, get along better with the mayor and the Aldermen than the four people who quit Aug. 27.
“They are on fire with being creative,” Dugatto said of the new group.
The relationship between the parking authority board and Derby City Hall became strained after the Aldermen voted last year to temporarily close the facility after concerns over falling concrete within the garage.
Members of the authority were also annoyed after Dugatto and the city’s law firm requested to review financial statements of the authority through a Freedom of Information request.
Members of the Derby Parking Authority supervise the operation of the municipal garage and its employees, including the executive director, parking enforcement officers, and parking garage workers.
The Derby parking garage, on Thompson Place, is aging and needs to be replaced or repaired. Both are multi-million dollar propositions, and the former members of the authority had been pushing for the matter to be put on the November ballot.
The new authority will take a fresh look at the garage, its challenges, and its options, Dugatto said. The city also filed an application for a state grant to help the garage. The city hopes to receive $7 million, but there are guarantees.
The Aldermen indicated the mayor would also form a new Aldermanic subcommittee to work with the new parking authority members.
Alderwoman Felicia Monaco said it was important for the parking garage to have a presence at the monthly Aldermen meetings in order to improve communication.
Alderman Carmen DiCenso said the city should seriously explore privatizing the garage, an option the mayor seemed to be leaning toward as well.
Alderman David Lenart said the parking authority board has a public relations problem, and he urged the supervision of the garage be given directly to the Board of Aldermen.
But Barbara DeGennaro, president of the Board of Aldermen, said the city first had to reconstitute its parking authority before making any decisions regarding the garage.
Afterward Lenart called the meeting a “monumental waste of time,” since the mayor could have appointed new members two weeks ago.
“We’ll be back in 90 days talking about the same thing,” Lenart said.
The political affiliations of the new members are as follows: Dulla is a Republican. Baum is an independent. Pereiras is a Democrat and Boland is a Democrat.
