New Haven’s Board of Aldermen reelected Carl Goldfield of Ward 29 to his third term as the board’s president at its first meeting this year on Jan. 4.

Ward 3 Alderwoman Jacqueline James-Evans also campaigned for the post but dropped out of the race before the vote, and Goldfield ran unopposed.

Goldfield said one goal he has as president is “trying to get some people back to work in the city.” He said he wants to find a way to hire New Haven residents instead of private contractors to do infrastructure repair.

Fifteen aldermen signed a letter released Dec. 14 in support of Goldfield, giving him the 16 votes needed to win the election. Even after that letter was released, James-Evans said she would continue challenging him, and she did for a while. But ultimately she said she dropped out because she simply did not have the support she needed

“At the end we ended up not having all the votes,” James-Evans said. “It didn’t make sense to go on the floor.”

She said that she intends to work with Goldfield in the future.

James-Evans’s campaign was marked by reports that at least one call was made in her support by superstar reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. James-Evans told the News in a December interview that she had the “understanding that Jesse Jackson never called” and that she does not know Sharpton.

Ward 1 Alderman Mike Jones ’11, who represents most Yale undergraduates, told the News in December that he was not yet supporting either candidate, but said in an e-mail message the morning of the election that he was supporting Goldfield.

After Goldfield was reelected, Jones said he was supporting Goldfield because there was not any reason to support a different board member for president. He added that he “pretty comfortable” with Goldfield as president.

Also at the Jan. 4 election, Ward 20 Alderman Charles Blango was elected president pro tempore, the board’s second-highest ranking official, Ward 21 Alderwoman Katrina Jones was elected majority leader, and Ward 22 Alderman Greg Morehead was elected deputy majority leader, Goldfield said, adding that they all ran unopposed. Morehead represents students who live in Ezra Stiles, Morse, Silliman and Timothy Dwight colleges and in Swing Space.

The board was inaugurated Jan. 1 at a ceremony at the Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School on College Street.