board director & president
KATHIE HEBERT has lived in West Haven for 18 years. Kathie is a retired RN and has worked in various healthcare settings. After Hurricane Sandy in 2012, she became involved in the West Haven Watershed Restoration Committee, volunteering many hours doing beach cleanups, planting, and maintaining Sandy Point. She is also a member of the West River Watershed Coalition, which partners with the Sandy Point Bird Sanctuary on various projects. Kathie also serves on the Board of the West Haven Land Trust and devotes countless hours toward the betterment of West Haven in various capacities.
Chair: Beautification Committee
BOARD DIRECTOR & vice PRESIDENT
THOMAS 'TOMMY' GREEN has lived at Sandy Point for almost eight years. He has been working in the residential and commercial roofing industry for over 25 years both in CT & MA. He is an Executive Director for the nonprofit organization Green Fur Kidz, Inc. and has been a volunteer within the organization since 2014. Tommy loves Sandy Point for its natural ecosystems and the surrounding wildlife and is passionate about protecting it. The Sandy Point neighborhood is built with a fabulous grassroots committed community and Tommy looks forward to strengthening it with continued education to community visitors and providing community outreach.
Chair: Neighborhood Safety Committee
board director & treasurer
RICH HEBERT has lived in West Haven for the last 19 years.
He became involved with the Sandy Point area some 10 years ago. He has always been the first to volunteer his time, energy, passion, and his own equipment in order to provide landscaping and maintenance to Sandy Point Bird Sanctuary. He has also volunteered with beautification projects such as the installation of the butterfly garden and the planters. He has attended and helped to lead every single monthly SPNA neighborhood clean-up since inception.
Rich enjoyed 33 years of employment at the telephone company as an engineer. He and his wife have helped to build homes in Mexico in concert with their church for over 13 years. They are incredibly active in keeping our neighborhood clean, safe and inviting.
board director & secretary
BONNIE POSICK moved to West Haven from Hamden with her children nearly 15 years ago to be closer to the beach. While she was a resident of Hamden, Bonnie served on the town's Natural Resources and Open Space Commission. Bonnie was employed by the City of New Haven for 20+ years, and worked as public information officer for the Board of Education, the Department of Parks, Recreation and Trees, and the Department of Police Service. She was a board member of the Faxon Law New Haven Road Race, and a volunteer for Goodwill of Southern New England's Fantasy of Lights. Following her retirement from Yale Law School in 2021, she has spent her free time picking up litter in the Sandy Point neighborhood, often accompanied by her autistic nephew. She also volunteers her time at a local animal rescue.
Chair: Publicity/Media Committee
board director
NEIL CIULLO has lived in West Haven for eight years now and really enjoys it. The neighborhood is a great place, and there is so much to do. He is very fortunate to have an ocean
view from his unit. He is a retired Mechanical Engineer who worked for General Electric designing machines that assemble residential circuit breakers like the ones you have in your home. Another job that he really enjoyed was for a company called Beiersdorf; that facility manufactured all of the Nivea and
Aquaphor skin product for the USA. Neil has five years of prior Board experience with the Governors Ridge Condo association, two as president. He looks forward to working with the Sandy Point team.
board director
RONY KANYIMBU MANDJATA has lived in West Haven since 2017 and in the Sandy Point neighborhood since 2020. He studied electrical engineering tech and works as a locomotive inspector. Rony really enjoys being involved in the community and helping to improve our neighborhood. He recently joined SPNA and he is very proud to be a new member of the board.
Chair: Membership Committee
board director
DONNA SPIEGELMAN moved to West Haven in September 2020, to a condominium within the Oceanside Condominiums on Beach Street, right next to Stowe's, where the best lobster rolls ever are to be had! She is delighted to be living on the beach with an ocean view and amazing walks right out her door, including to the Sandy Point Bird Sanctuary. She grew up in Stamford, CT, and spent the last 40 years in Boston, MA, before returning to Connecticut to join the faculty at the Yale School of Public Health. She is also a member of the executive board of the Oceanside Condominium Association. Some areas of interest include community building, Long Island Sound water quality, traffic calming, noise reduction, recycling, and supporting the Bird Sanctuary.
Chair: Environmental Committee
past Board director, PAST president & co-founder (2021-2023)
MICHELLE COLETTI moved to the City of West Haven in September 2020 from Fairfield County. She and her partner found the perfectly located beach bungalow overlooking the Sandy Point Beach and Bird Sanctuary. After a major TLC renovation on the bungalow, she decided to volunteer her professional skill set in order to help increase the quality of life in the Sandy Point neighborhood. Sandy Point's natural coastal landscape is quite unique and special, as are the wonderful neighbors who live here. Professionally, Michelle has served as the Director of Development at publicly traded and private real estate development companies sourcing and overseeing projects in the New York and Washington D.C. Metro areas including Westchester County, NY and Fairfield County, CT. Additionally, she has served on Business Improvement District Boards in major metro cities in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. She has been a member and has worked in best practices work groups with the Urban Land Institute on various urban planning projects and economic development initiatives including Public Private Partnerships. Michelle resigned from the board in accordance with the bylaws when she was elected to City Council for District 2. She continues her advocacy for the neighborhood, the district, and the City of West Haven in that capacity.
past Board director, PAST Secretary & co-founder (2021-2023)
DAVE KILLEEN has lived in West Haven for over 13 years. He has worked in professional planning positions for almost 45 years in a mix of communities including St. Louis, MO, Bridgeport, CT, Stamford, CT, Stratford, CT and recently the City of West Haven. He admires the significant natural beauty that surrounds us here, and he is anxious to work through this neighborhood association to help build a stronger sense of community in this wonderful neighborhood.
past Board director, PAST TREASURER
PETER O'NEILL grew up in Milford. He and his wife Pam and two small children moved to West Haven 40 years ago. Peter was an Information Technology and Operations Manager in the
healthcare industry for 30 years before going into independent consulting. Peter is now retired.
Peter was a member and chairman of the West Haven Water Pollution Control Commission for over 20 years. He was chairman ofnMayor John Picard’s Board of Finance and chairman of his
committee to review joining the Greater New Haven Water Pollution Control Authority. Peter is a past board member of the West Haven Community House. He rejoins the Sandy Point
Neighborhood Association board as a director after serving for a year as the first SPNA Treasurer.
PAST CHAIR: ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE
past Board director
BEVERLY GARRETSON was raised in California and moved to Connecticut 36 years ago with her young daughter. She has lived in West Haven on 2nd Avenue for 24 years after falling in love with the shoreline where walking, bird watching and kayaking are so accessible. After retirement, she has been a regular volunteer at the food pantry, WHEAT of West Haven. She has participated in the many cleanups, weeding and maintaining of the Sandy Point neighborhood area. She has been thrilled with our coming together as a group to work to enhance and maintain the quality of life of our neighborhood of Sandy Point.
past Board director
GEORGIANNA JETTE is a lifelong resident of West Haven. She taught in the Milford school system for 44 years and is currently retired. Since 2013, she has been writing and receiving grants for the revitalization of the Sandy Point Bird Sanctuary. Working closely with Audubon Connecticut, numerous volunteers, and the previous city administration, bird-friendly plants and shrubs have been provided and infrastructure has been constructed. Georgianna fervently believes Sandy Point has become a jewel in our community for all to enjoy for years to come. She will continue her tireless work and efforts to improve our shoreline environment.
Official Liaison to Audubon for Sandy Point Bird Sanctuary