Downtown and Chinatown haven’t had a neighborhood liaison to the Mayor’s Office since March of last year, and residents have no idea when they are getting a new one.

Last March, Chulan Huang, who had served as neighborhood liaison for the area since 2022, switched roles from the Office of Neighborhood Services (ONS) to the Office of Small Business.

Huang was later fired by the city in May in relation to being arrested on domestic violence charges. Those charges were dropped earlier this month.

Since March, however, there hasn’t been a neighborhood liaison for Downtown on the city’s website. The city’s current neighborhood services webpage lists a blank space under both the Downtown and Chinatown- Leather District entries, where other areas have a name and photograph listed.

The city did not respond to two requests for comment on why no neighborhood liaison has been assigned, or when one can be expected.

It has also apparently not been forthcoming on this issue to neighborhood leaders.

Rishi Shukla, head of the Downtown Boston Neighborhood Association (DBNA), said he had “absolutely no idea” why the position has not yet been filled.

“We get an occasional email from ONS about proponents who are looking to go through zoning, and that’s honestly the extent of our relationship,” Shukla said.

“There’s no person who’s interfacing between the neighborhood and the residents and businesses on behalf of the city, so from my point of view, that’s a missing link to City Hall. I don’t know how it could possibly take 11 months to fill a role.”

Kate DeBeul, a former board member of the Chinatown Residents Association, stepped down from a leadership role with the group in September, and she said one of the main reasons behind her decision had been not having a neighborhood liaison.

“We had no connection to the city,” DeBeul said. “Even just going to the resident association meetings, I was the main point of contact between a lot of the residents and the city, and we were just getting nowhere. I was like, I can’t do this.”

When asked if the city had explained to her why it was taking so long to fill the position, DeBeul laughed and said, “Nope!”

A neighborhood liaison isn’t technically required for residents to get in touch with the city. DeBeul said Councilor Ed Flynn, who represents both Downtown and Chinatown, was the only connection with City Hall who she felt truly focused on supporting residents.

“It’s not that we get a ton done, but he organizes things, and listens, and actually puts effort in,” she said. “The mayor’s liaison would hold little meetings with us, but then nothing would get done.”

In the absence of a liaison, the DBNA handles much of its city contact by reaching out to the relevant city department. Shukla noted, for example, that throughout much of the contentious PLAN: Downtown zoning update that rocked the neighborhood last year, there had been no liaison.

“The entirety of the end of PLAN Downtown lacked a neighborhood liaison, so instead of working with ONS, I just emailed Planning Department and the mayor’s team directly,” Shukla said. “But I’m the head of a neighborhood association. If you’re a general resident or a business owner in Downtown, you don’t have those relationships, so you would expect to have a connection to your ONS representative so you can get things taken care of. We’ve definitely gotten a lot more inbound from our neighbors and business owners because there is no one for them to go to. Truly that’s a city responsibility that remains unfilled.”