Livable Cities, Transportation Department Heads Tapped By Mayor

New Haven CT

01 December, 2021

10:16 AM

Description

NEW HAVEN, CT — Mayor Justin Elicker appointed of two new department heads Tuesday. Arlevia Samuel was tapped to lead the Livable Cities Initiative and Sandeep Aysola was named head of Transportation, Traffic & Parking. Both departments are part of the city's Economic Development Administration. Samuel's appointment fill out the remaining term of Serena Neal-Sanjurjo, who left the city in October 2020, and Aysola's appointment will fill the remainder of the term vacated by Doug Hausladen, who left the city in July 2021. "I'm thrilled to appoint these two incredible professionals," Elicker said at a news conference. "Over the past year, I've been impressed by watching Arlevia lead her team at LCI. She is responsive and cares deeply about improving the lives of the residents of our city." As both departments fall under the economic development administration, EDA director Michael Piscatelli called Samuel and Aysola "remarkably accomplished and technically sound professionals in their respective fields. Since October 2020, Samuel served as the acting director of LCI. She has led a team of code inspectors and neighborhood specialists who work to enforce the city's housing code, address blight, and implement improvements and programs to facilitate safer, healthier, and more attractive communities, according to the Mayor's office. Before that role, she was manager of the Neighborhood and Commercial Development division of LCI. With a Master's degree in Urban Studies from Southern Connecticut State University, and a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from the University of New Haven, she has a "long history of work in housing." Aysola is a Senior Associate at The Goodman Corporation. Previously, he served as a Project Manager at CDM Smith. Sandeep has more than 15 years' experience in managing and executing transportation planning and traffic engineering studies. His background includes conducting projects related to sustainable transportation, climate policy, resiliency planning, stakeholder engagement, corridor planning, traffic operations, strategic planning, along with general land use and urban planning. He has a Master of Environmental Management degree from the Yale School of Environment and a Master of Engineering degree from the University of Virginia. He is a certified Project Manager from the Project Management Institute and holds planning certificates from the Institute of Transportation Engineers and the Institute of Sustainable Infrastructure. "These two individuals are remarkably accomplished and technically sound professionals in their respective fields," said Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli. "We're very lucky to have them working for the city of New Haven."