Council panel interviews candidates for board vacancies

Other Committee · Meeting of July 16, 2026

BLOOMFIELD — A Bloomfield Town Council subcommittee interviewed a dozen candidates for vacancies on six boards, including a Fair Rent Commission that has lacked a full seven-member roster since November 2025. Councilors Waterhouse and DeBethan Brown, with subcommittee chair Councilor Goodman, heard from applicants for the Economic Development Commission and Development Authority (four vacancies), the Youth Diversion Team (five vacancies) and the Youth Adult Council (six vacancies), among others. Applicant Donna Maitland-Ward, a 34-year Department of Children and Families employee, told the panel "it takes a village really to take care of our kids and our community." The chair said a first batch of recommended appointees will advance to the full Town Council, while a second batch waits until Councilor Waterhouse returns from vacation.

No public comment was offered, and the meeting adjourned on a unanimous voice vote.

In the full story:

• Economic Development Commission and Development Authority
• Fair Rent Commission
• Youth Diversion Team
• Youth Adult Council
• Golf Advisory Committee
• Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook Wild and Scenic Committee
• Public Comment and Process
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 1,972 words

Source: the Other Committee meeting of July 16, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.

The Full Article

Economic Development Commission and Development Authority

The Economic Development Commission and Development Authority (EDCDA) has four vacant seats, with terms set to expire January 31, 2028, 2029, 2030 and 2031. Under Bloomfield's Code of Ordinances, Chapter 15, Section 15-45, EDCDA members must be nominated by a majority affirmative vote of the Town Council before the town manager makes the formal appointment. That structure means Thursday's interview is only the first procedural step; the subcommittee's recommendation still has to clear a full Town Council vote and a town manager appointment before anyone is seated.

The question before the subcommittee was simply whether to recommend the sole applicant, identified in the meeting only by the first name Malcolm, for one of the four seats. Malcolm told councilors he is a third-generation Bloomfield resident whose father and grandparents also lived in town, and that he has done "a lot of work and volunteer work with the community," citing the library and small businesses in the arts and hospitality sectors. Asked what he wanted the committee or council to know, he said, "I'm not looking to point a direction. I'm not looking to say someone's right or someone's wrong. I'm looking to bring all the people together." He confirmed he could meet the committee's schedule. No vote was taken on his candidacy at this meeting; it will be folded into the batch of recommendations the subcommittee forwards to the full council.

Fair Rent Commission

The Fair Rent Commission's entire seven-member board expired in November 2025, leaving the commission to operate, if at all, without a fully seated membership for roughly eight months. The current round of appointments covers a term ending November 2026. Chapter 12, Section 12-90 of the town code requires the board to include at least one landlord and at least one tenant, a structural requirement that shaped how councilors framed their questions to each applicant.

Councilor Waterhouse led the Fair Rent Commission interviews. The question before the subcommittee was which of the evening's candidates to forward for the vacant seats; a third listed applicant, Joy, did not appear and was skipped.

Jessica Park, a three-year Bloomfield resident and clinical social worker, was the first candidate. She said the commission "plays a strong, critical role in safeguarding tenant rights, promoting safe and healthy living conditions for everybody in our community" and in "ensuring access to affordable housing," which she called "a critical issue not only in our community but across Connecticut." She said her professional background gave her prior programmatic experience with housing and homelessness issues, and that she would be open to other committee opportunities if the Fair Rent Commission were not the best fit.

A second applicant, identified in the meeting only by the first name Sarah, told the subcommittee she has served on the commission previously and has lived in Bloomfield since 1996, first as a homeowner and now also as a renter — a dual perspective she said is directly relevant to the landlord-tenant balance the ordinance requires. She said she is senior director at the Village for Families and Children and also serves on the Asylum Hill Neighborhood Association's Neighborhood Revitalization Zone, where she is helping to create a tenant cooperative. "I want to be able to give back and be able to protect tenants' rights as well as being fair to landlords," she said. Both applicants confirmed they could attend all meetings. No vote on either candidacy was taken at this meeting.

Youth Diversion Team

The Youth Diversion Team has five vacancies for citizen representatives for a term ending November 2027, and the subcommittee needed to work through both new applicants and members seeking reappointment, a mix Councilor DeBethan Brown managed for this segment. One listed new applicant, Sunia, did not appear.

New applicant Britney Bryce, a Bloomfield resident of more than 20 years and a therapist, told the subcommittee she is raising two sons, ages 21 and 15, and that the community "played a major part" in shaping where they are today. She said she plans to eventually open her own practice focused on adolescent behavioral health and that her clinical background with the Department of Children and Families and the East Windsor Police Department's youth program informs her interest in the team.

New applicant Lauren Sarafino said she began serving the Youth Diversion Team in spring 2025 as Dean of Students at a Bloomfield middle school, transcribed in the meeting as Carmony Race Middle School, after taking over for a prior dean, Karen Goldman. She said she taught special education in Bloomfield for 20 years and remains invested in "restorative practices," telling the subcommittee that familiar faces matter to students who come through the diversion process: "I think it was really important for them to be able to see a familiar face." She moved to Bloomfield in 2021.

Among members seeking reappointment, Roger Bunker described decades of experience as what he called a "child's attorney" handling cases involving the Department of Children and Families and special education, and said two of his four children are adopted and biracial, with one on an individualized education plan. He said he has served on the committee, under its earlier name as the Juvenile Review Board, for about 30 years. Leslie Wilson, a lifelong Bloomfield resident who currently works for East Hartford Social Services, said her 20 years in juvenile education and social services shape her approach: "Having accountability is important, of course, but also having a voice is also important." Thomas Norman, whose own son went through the committee's process under its former name, the Juvenile Review Board, said he has served roughly three years without missing a meeting: "I can actually speak their language. I can relate to them." All three confirmed they could continue attending regularly, and no vote on any Youth Diversion Team candidacy was taken Thursday.

Youth Adult Council

The Youth Adult Council has six vacancies for a term ending November 2027. Councilor Waterhouse again led the questioning. New applicant Milgrid Guzman, an Army combat veteran and case manager who moved to Bloomfield in 2023, said she previously served as associate director of the Veterans Oasis Center at Capital Community College, running scholarship and GI Bill programs for students, and that she wanted to extend similar advocacy to Bloomfield's youth and adults: "I love making sure that everybody gets what they need."

Returning member Donna Maitland-Ward, co-chair of the council for roughly five to six years and a member for at least 15, said she has worked for the state Department of Children and Families for 34 years, currently as a director in the agency's New Britain office. She framed her continued service around a central belief: "It takes a village really to take care of our kids and our community." Roger Bunker, also seeking reappointment to this council, used his second interview of the evening to ask that council members "provide more funds to the Youth Adult Council," a request the chair acknowledged as "noted" without further discussion. No vote on Youth Adult Council candidacies occurred at this meeting.

Golf Advisory Committee

The Golf Advisory Committee has three vacancies, each a two-year term ending June 30, 2028. The sole applicant interviewed, Bob Berman, said he has lived in Bloomfield for 53 years and plays the town golf course roughly four times a week. He told the subcommittee the course draws out-of-state golfers: "You will find, you go up there and you check the license plates on cars, you'll find an awful lot of Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and even some Pennsylvania plates." He recalled the course's land once housed A.C. Peterson Dairy Farm's cows, a detail he offered when asked what else the council should know. He confirmed he could attend meetings except when they conflict with another committee he serves on. No vote was taken.

Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook Wild and Scenic Committee

This committee has a single vacancy, for an alternate seat. Applicant Jeffrey Clement said he moved to Bloomfield roughly eight years ago specifically for its proximity to the Farmington River, where he has kayaked for about 30 years, including a full run from the Farmington to the Connecticut River with a friend during the COVID-19 pandemic. He cited an interest in "water protection, water access" and the town's open spaces, including Wilcox Park and Lafayette, and said he has already been attending the committee's Zoom meetings informally. No vote was taken on his candidacy.

Public Comment and Process

No members of the public outside the applicant pool offered comment when the floor was opened. Before adjourning, the subcommittee's chair, Councilor Goodman, outlined the outreach policy guiding the broader appointments backlog: staff will attempt to contact each applicant twice to schedule an interview before assuming the person is no longer interested, a process some applicants have already opted out of voluntarily, according to the chair. The subcommittee said it would move a first batch of recommendations, drawn from this meeting and the prior week's, forward to the full Town Council, while holding a second batch until Councilor Waterhouse returns from vacation. Councilor DeBethan Brown said the goal was to be "very intentional" while "trying to move through this as quickly as possible with the backlog." The subcommittee's next interviews are scheduled for its August meeting. The meeting adjourned on a motion that was seconded and approved unanimously by voice vote.

WHO WAS THERE

• Councilor Waterhouse, subcommittee member, present; led questioning for the Fair Rent Commission and Youth Adult Council segments.
• Councilor DeBethan Brown, subcommittee member, present; transcript renders the name inconsistently (also heard as DeVitha Brown and Retham Brown); led questioning for the Youth Diversion Team segment.
• Councilor Goodman, subcommittee chair, present; identified from a single clear transcript reference and otherwise addressed only as "Mr. Chair."
• Applicants interviewed, with stated affiliations: Malcolm, Bloomfield resident (EDCDA); Jessica Park, clinical social worker and Bloomfield resident (Fair Rent Commission); Sarah, Bloomfield resident since 1996, senior director at the Village for Families and Children (Fair Rent Commission); Britney Bryce, therapist and Bloomfield resident (Youth Diversion Team); Lauren Sarafino, middle school dean of students (Youth Diversion Team); Roger Bunker, former child's attorney (Youth Diversion Team and Youth Adult Council); Leslie Wilson, East Hartford Social Services employee (Youth Diversion Team); Thomas Norman, Bloomfield parent (Youth Diversion Team); Milgrid Guzman, Army veteran and case manager (Youth Adult Council); Donna Maitland-Ward, Department of Children and Families director (Youth Adult Council); Bob Berman, Bloomfield resident and frequent golfer (Golf Advisory Committee); Jeffrey Clement, kayaker and river advocate (Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook Wild and Scenic Committee).
• Applicants listed but absent: Sunia (Youth Diversion Team) and Joy (Fair Rent Commission).
• No other named town staff appeared in the transcript.

ORGANIZATIONS AND DOCUMENTS REFERENCED

• Bloomfield Code of Ordinances, Chapter 15, Section 15-45: cited as governing how EDCDA members are nominated and appointed.
• Bloomfield Code of Ordinances, Chapter 12, Section 12-90: cited as requiring at least one landlord and one tenant on the Fair Rent Commission.
• The Village for Families and Children: employer of Fair Rent Commission applicant Sarah.
• Asylum Hill Neighborhood Association / Neighborhood Revitalization Zone (NRZ): cited by Sarah as the venue for a tenant cooperative project she is helping create.
• Connecticut Department of Children and Families: cited by Roger Bunker, Britney Bryce and Donna Maitland-Ward as part of their professional backgrounds.
• Capital Community College's Veterans Oasis Center: cited by Milgrid Guzman as her prior employer, running veteran and student scholarship programs.
• A.C. Peterson Dairy Farm: cited by Bob Berman as the historical prior use of the land now occupied by the Bloomfield golf course.
• Youth Diversion Team's predecessor, the Juvenile Review Board: cited by Roger Bunker and Thomas Norman as the committee's former name.