The acting Commissioner of the Department of Planning & Development, Jim Cavanaugh, unceremoniously fired Deputy Commissioner Lee Ellman on Friday after three decades of service.
Meet the new boss
Mayor Mike Spano appointed Jim Cavanaugh as the acting Commissioner of the Planning & Development department after a long career intertwined with his administration and his family.
Cavanaugh started out in the 1980’s as press secretary for State Senator, and brother to the Mayor, Nick Spano. Then, in the early 2000’s, Cavanaugh led the Battery Park City Authority in Manhattan. Though he resigned shortly after a state investigation alleging misuse of funds. Upon his return to Yonkers, he worked for Nick Spano’s lobbying firm, Empire Strategic Planning. Then, in 2017, Mayor Spano appointed Cavanaugh to be his Deputy Mayor. Following a term in that office, the Mayor then transferred Cavanaugh to lead the Yonkers Industrial Development Agency. There, he would entice new projects in the city with tax breaks for developers like AMS.
While still serving as the CEO of the YIDA, he was concurrently named Commissioner of the Department of Planning & Development–a position his wife, Wilson Kimball, had formerly held. With the appointment, he inherited the previous commissioner’s salary of $197,737 annually. While appointed in August, the administration did not announce the change and only discussed it after a media inquiry in November by The Yonkers Ledger. Noting the departures of Commissioner Lou Albano and Director of Planning Zach Nersinger, the administration stated their need for experience.
The Mayor moved quickly to fill the gap with someone who didn’t need to be brought up to speed.
Christina Gilmartin – Communications Director for City of Yonkers
A fixture in the department
Lee Ellman boasts nearly 40 years of municipal planning expertise. With a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Rutgers University and a Bachelor’s in Geography from SUNY Albany, he has led significant initiatives in Yonkers since the early 1990’s.
Ellman spearheaded the 2000 revision of the City’s Zoning Ordinance and and continued leading the transformation of downtown zoning. This included projects like the Alexander Smith Carpet Mills Complex and the Ludlow Transit Oriented Development Plan. These projects catalyzed the city’s ongoing revitalization, or “renaissance,” as the administration regularly touts.
Lee Ellman also oversaw various boards across the City of Yonkers like Planning, Landmarks Preservation, and the Zoning Board of Appeals.
In 2020, Mayor Spano appointed Ellman to be the Deputy Commission of the planning department; elevating him from the role of Planning Director which he held for over 25 years.
However, despite the many years of service Ellman has devoted to the City of Yonkers, he was summarily fired by Commissioner Cavanaugh on Friday Dec. 15.
Cause for termination?
Ellman, in his role as Deputy Commissioner, serves at the pleasure of the Mayor and can be fired without cause. As such, no cause has been made public by the City of Yonkers. When asked, COY politely responded that, “[It] doesn’t comment on personnel changes but in this case we thank Lee for his years of service and wish him a long and healthy retirement.” We also contacted Mr. Ellman himself. However, he chose not to comment at this time.
Regardless of the potential reason behind this action, the termination of Ellman seems to bely Cavanaugh’s own appointment. If experience and consistency were so important to Mayor Spano that he appointed Jim Cavanaugh as Commissioner in August, then why fire the most seasoned expert in the department just a few months later? Furthermore, no successor to the Deputy Commissioner position has even been announced.
