As Swamy’s supervisor, city Community Services Administrator Eliza Halsey was suspended without pay between April 28 and May 4. The Elicker administration has fired city Food System Policy Director Latha Swamy after finding that she allegedly made at least $5,000 in personal purchases with her city-issued credit card. The city also recently placed Swamy’s supervisor, city Community Services Administrator (CSA) Eliza Halsey, on a weeklong unpaid suspension because of Swamy’s P-Card use. Swamy’s termination from her city job was listed in the most recent weekly city personnel report. That report states that Swamy’s termination was effective Friday, May 29. According to city spokesperson Lenny Speiller, Swamy was fired for misusing her city-issued credit card. P-Cards, or procurement cards, are made available to various city department heads and other employees for authorized workplace expenditures. Click here to read the city’s P-Card policy. “Following a review of credit card records, city staff identified concerns regarding several purchases made by Ms. Swamy,” Speiller wrote. “When asked to clarify these expenditures, Ms. Swamy admitted to making unauthorized purchases and violating city policies. Based on Ms. Swamy’s statements, she made at least $5,000 in personal purchases, which is a misuse of funds.” The city conducted a Loudermill hearing last week, as required for public-sector employees facing potential termination. The city decided to fire Swamy based on the city’s review of P-Card records and based on the Loudermill hearing. The New Haven Police Department has been “notified about this misuse of funds and a police investigation is ongoing,” Speiller wrote. “Once the police department’s investigation is complete, we anticipate having a fuller picture of the unauthorized personal purchases that were made and the police department will act accordingly based on their findings.” City Police Chief David Zannelli confirmed for the Independent that city police are currently investigating this matter. He said that Det. Kealyn Nivakoff is leading the investigation. Speiller also said that Halsey — who, in her CSA coordinator role, oversees a range of city government social-service divisions and departments — “was placed on an unpaid suspension for one week as the supervisor responsible for monitoring Ms. Swamy’s performance. Ms. Halsey remains a valued and dedicated member of this administration.” Speiller said that Halsey’s unpaid suspension took place between April 28 and May 4. Swamy has worked for the city since 2018. Click here and here to read about her efforts to develop a local urban agriculture master plan and her work helping build out a citywide community composting program. According to records obtained by the Independent via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, between Dec. 5, 2024 and Feb. 10, 2026, Swamy spent more than $108,000 across 467 transactions with her city-issued credit card. Some of those transactions include $3,000 paid to Carlianne Creates on Oct. 20, 2025; $1,173.55 paid to CurrentBody on Dec. 27, 2025; and a total of $2,094 paid to Kickstarter across three different transactions between April and September 2025. Roughly two months ago, Swamy posted a comment on the Kickstarter fundraising campaign webpage for a food-related game called “Picky Eaters: Ultimate Collection.” Swamy wrote in that Kickstarter comment that her “backing/purchase was made as part of grant funding through my workplace. Given the extended delay, I have been asked by work to request a refund because we won’t be able to expend grant funds (and not have a deliverable) beyond our grant’s set timeline.” Swamy and Halsey did not respond to separate requests for comment by the publication time of this article. Speiller did not identify any specific unauthorized purchases Swamy made with her city credit card. Swamy’s termination comes after former city Police Chief Karl Jacobson abruptly retired in January — and was subsequently arrested — for allegedly stealing public funds meant for confidential informants. (Jacobson has pleaded not guilty, for now.) It also comes after New Britain’s former mayor, Erin Stewart, dropped her Republican bid for governor amid allegations of her own misuse of a New Britain city credit card. The post City Food Policy Director Fired, Admin Suspended Over Credit-Card “Misuse” appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less