Parks Chair Belowsky: No longer term-limited by mortality. The Board of Alders unanimously voted to uproot the parks commission — along with its lifetime appointees — and compost it into a new board with limited terms.At their first full board meeting of 2025 on Tuesday evening, the alders passed an ordinance declaring that the city’s current Board of Parks Commissioners ​“shall be abolished” — as soon as members of a new ​“Commission on Parks, Programs, and Recreational Facilities” are confirmed.The change marks an end to three controversial ​“lifetime” appointee positions on the commission, currently held by Hector Torres, Carl Babb, and commission chair David Belowsky. Advocating for the ordinance on Tuesday, Wooster Square Alder and Legislation Committee Chair Ellen Cupo argued that the new commission structure ​“modernizes parks oversight” and ​“addresses longstanding concerns about lifetime appointments, accountability, and limited scope.”One concern with the lifetime appointee system, said Majority Leader and Westville/Amity Alder Richard Furlow after the meeting, was that the city couldn’t find any documentation of the origin of the lifetime commission appointments. ​“They were kind of appointing themselves,” he said.The change was part of a broader unanimous vote on Tuesday to transfer the laws defining the structure of several city boards and commissions from the City Charter to the Code of Ordinances — an effort initiated by the most recent Charter Revision Commission in 2023. That means moving from the city’s constitution to laws that are easier to change. The result enables the Board of Alders to directly amend the makeup, purpose, and authority of those boards and commissions, rather than requiring any changes to go through an extended (and typically once-every-decade) Charter Revision process.“This amendment strengthens New Haven’s government… granting the Board of Alders more flexibility,” Cupo said. As soon as the ordinance takes effect, alders will gain more direct authority not only over the park system’s governance, but also over the Financial Review and Audit Commission, the Board of Police Commissioners, the Board of Fire Commissioners, the Board of Public Health, the Board of Library Directors, and the Civilian Review Board.The only immediate, concrete change to a commission’s structure on Monday was the shift toward a new Commission on Parks, Programs, and Recreational Facilities with term limits.The new commission will have nine members, including two alders of any party affiliation and seven mayoral appointees with staggered three-year terms. Currently, the parks commission comprises three ​“lifetime” appointees, three term-limited mayoral appointees, and two alders representing different political parties. (West Hills Alder Honda Smith is the only alder presently on the commission, since there are no non-Democratic alders.) According to Furlow, any of those members who want to continue stewarding the city park system will need to apply for a position on the new commission. Applicants will have to be nominated by the mayor and approved from the Board of Alders in order to make it onto the new commission — a process now in line with the city’s other boards and commissions.Majority Leader Richard Furlow: No more self-appointing permanent parks commissioners. Mayor Justin Elicker wrote in a text message that he ​“plan[s] on taking a few days to review and consider” whom to appoint or reappoint to the new commission. On Wednesday, current parks commission chair and lifetime appointee David Belowsky said he’s still considering whether he’ll apply to serve on the new Commission on Parks, Programs, and Recreational Facilities. ​“I haven’t made that decision yet,” he said.Belowsky, who has held his position on the board since 1993, maintained that the lifetime positions on the commission contributed to a sense of ​“consistency” in parks governance. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” he said.Regardless of his next steps, he said, he’s proud of accomplishments such as advocating for the preservation of Kensington Park, acquiring a parcel of land by the Pardee Seawall, and deciding to replace the Wooster Square statue of Christopher Columbus with a sculpture commemorating Italian immigrants. Meanwhile, Furlow said that aside from the parks commission overhaul, the alders don’t have any other particular changes in mind for the city’s commissions. “We may want to be looking at some of the terms,” he mused, especially as aldermanic and mayoral terms are slated to change from two to four years starting in 2027.