Add two more casualties to the list of inner-circle appointees fleeing the de Blasio administration before the halfway mark of his first term.
Rachel Godsil, a Seton Hall University law professor and former assistant US attorney, quietly stepped down this month as chairperson of the city board that sets rents for more than a million rent-controlled and rent-stabilized apartments, The Post has learned.
The seat heading the Rent Guidelines Board — to which de Blasio appointed her in April 2014 — remains vacant.
Godsil helped de Blasio fulfill a campaign pledge in June by pushing through an historic rent freeze on rent-regulated apartments. It was the first freeze in the board’s 46-year history.
Meanwhile, City Hall also confirmed that architect Faith Rose will resign soon as executive director of the Public Design Commission.
De Blasio appointed Rose, a former director at the city’s Department of Design and Construction, to the $120,271-a-year job in October 2014.
Including Godsil and Rose, the de Blasio administration has now already lost at least nine of its handpicked appointees to top inner-circle posts – or three more than predecessor Mike Bloomberg lost his first four-year term. While some de Blasio appointees left for new jobs, others quit after being forced out or being miserable over assignments, The Post has reported.
De Blasio spokesman Wiley Norvell attributed Godsil’s resignation to a “demanding full-time career in academia.”
He also said Rose is rejoining an architecture firm she co-founded with her husband, adding that “has always been her intention.”
Godsil did not return messages, and Rose could not be reached for comment.
Jack Freund, vice president of the Rent Stabilization Association, which represents landlords for rent-regulated tenants, said he’s not surprised Godsil resigned.
He said she probably realized “it’s a thankless job” where “you get yelled at” by both tenants and landlords “with little reward,” adding Godsil told him another key reason why she left is so she would have extra time to travel.
Both Freund and City Hall operatives said they expect De Blasio to fill Godsil’s post, which carries a mere $125 stipend per meeting, with another person who’ll support the administration’s efforts to keep rents low.
“She presided over one of the biggest victories by New York City progressives in getting the rent freeze through,” said a source. “There’s no guarantee what’s going to happen when rent hikes come up in 2016, so the feeling is she probably wanted to leave on top.”
The number of de Blasio departures could grow even larger very soon.
Marco Carrión, director of de Blasio’s Community Affairs Unit and one of the administration’s highest-ranking Latinos, is in the running for a top policy job at the 1199 SEIU Healthcare Workers union, The Post reported earlier this week.