West Haven Mayor-Elect Borer Names Transition Team

WEST HAVEN, CT — In preparation for a Dec. 3 swearing in, West Haven Mayor-Elect Dorinda Borer has convened a transition team and kicked off the first of several meetings that will occur over the next two weeks.

The team she assembled reflects a “deep and wide range of government and professional experience,” according to a news release.

“The transition team assembled represents relationships that I have built at the local and state level and should earn public trust and support based on the impressive breadth and scope of the members’ professional experience,” Borer said. “West Haven is ready to turn the page, and this team will be instrumental in that effort.”

Read more from the news release below:

Members of the transition team, which held its initial meeting on Wednesday at City Hall, include:

• Paul Mounds Jr., Vice President of Community and Corporate Alliances at Yale New Haven Health —Former Chief of Staff for Gov. Ned Lamont and accomplished public policy and public relations professional with 20 years of demonstrated success in federal, state and local government, higher education, philanthropy, business and nonprofit sectors.
• Tom Hamilton, State of Connecticut Municipal Accountability Review Board (MARB) Member — Longtime career in the municipal and school finance sector including as Chief Financial Officer for Norwalk Public Schools and Director of Finance roles with Norwalk and Stamford.
• Monique Bolt, Associate Vice President for Customer Service and Enrollment Events at the University of New Haven —Serves as senior advisor to the Vice President and oversees all aspects of recruitment and enrollment events planning, as well as customer service initiatives.
• Paul Dorsi, Attorney, Dorsi & Dorsi — Experienced litigation and appellate lawyer since 1992, with an emphasis on municipal law.
• Chris Smith, Managing Partner, Rome Smith Lutz & Kowalski — West Haven native who has more than 20 years in different consulting capacities in and around state and local government, including Director of Policy and Government Affairs at the State of Connecticut.
• Tracy Mooney, Retired Law Enforcement Officer — A resident of West Haven, Tracy’s career includes 20 years with the Milford Police where she retired as Deputy Chief, and the University of New Haven Police Department, where she was Chief of Police.
• State Representative Charles Ferraro —A Republican member of the Connecticut House of Representatives since 2015, representing the 117th District, which includes portions of Orange, Milford and West Haven, where he resides.
• Zoë Gluck, Deputy Policy Director in the Connecticut General Assembly — Brings a breadth of knowledge on policy, management, and interdepartmental dynamics.
• Jerome Lacobelle Jr., Attorney, Law Offices of Jerome A. Lacobelle, LLC - 34 years of experience, including real estate and civil litigation. He has served and provided input towards municipal government functions for over 18 years.

“My goal in creating this team was to have a diverse range of experience including government, corporate and legal expertise,” Borer said. “I also want this effort to be bipartisan and tapped my colleague Representative Ferraro who I have worked collaboratively with for the past 6 years. Additionally, I requested a MARB member to serve on my team to set the stage for a collaborative partnership.”

The goals of the transition team are to provide a resource to Borer by working with department heads to determine the status of operations including current projects, proposed initiatives on the horizon, short-term and long-term challenges, recommendations, budgets and personnel status. This work will be a springboard and aid Borer in preparation for assuming leadership of West Haven.

In addition to working with department heads, a few members of the team were tapped to plan and create forums for business owners and investors which will occur in the first week of January. Forming roundtable discussions to gather input on how the city can do business better, streamline opportunities for investors and support our local businesses was a campaign platform Borer ran on and is a priority for her administration.

“Our charter dictates a very short window between the election and swearing-in,” Borer said. “The timeline is further complicated by the holiday and City Hall closures. Therefore, I’m very grateful that this team has agreed to work at an escalated pace and is committing so much time and energy towards helping move West Haven forward into our next positive, productive chapter.

“I also want to take the opportunity to thank Mayor Rossi and all of the department heads who have been working to make this transition as seamless as possible for the residents of our city.”