Good evening, everyone.

Thank you for joining us for our regular scheduled uh city council meeting for today, December 8th, 2025.

We are in our public comment portion of our city council meeting.

I'm joined by my colleagues, Councilman Alex Thomas, Councilman Josh Mitchell.

We have our Thomas City Clerk, Eric Lusa, our City Treasurers here, City Treasurer Carmosier, Councilwoman Mally Rosado, our majority leader, Maryland Rossetti, Councilman John Gill is joined online, and my name is Councilman TJ Clark.

We are broadcasting live from HPATV.org and all of our streaming platforms on Channel 696 Comcast Xfinity and Channel 6032 on Frontier.

Public comments shall be conducted in accordance with the following procedures.

Each person shall give his or her name, address, and if he or she represents a group shall in addition state for the record the name and address of said group or organization.

Every speaker shall limit his or her remarks to three minutes.

Our timekeeper will be Councilman Mitchell.

All remarks shall be addressed to the council as a body and not to any member thereof.

During the public comment, no member of the council may address the count may address the council as a member of the public.

Any person making personal and pertinent or slanderous remarks, or who becomes boisterous while addressing the council shall be forthwith barred from further audience at said meetings unless permission to remain is granted by a two-thirds vote of the council members present and voting.

During the public comment, there should be no debate by the council, although questions may be asked by council of persons making such presentations.

Our first speaker is Carol Gale.

Good evening, members of the Hartford City Council.

My name is Carol Gale.

I am a Hartford resident and taxpayer.

I am also a Hartford teacher and president of the Hartford Federation of Teachers.

HFT is deeply concerned about the mayor's unilateral pause on school construction for six Hartford schools.

One of the schools is Moylan.

Poor air quality in the affected schools due to mold and dust creates illness for students and staff.

Don't our students and staff deserve safe and healthy facilities in which to learn.

We are aware that the Hartford Board of Education will be looking closely at its budget to find any areas for cost saving, and we'll be conducting a feasibility study for our schools.

Furthermore, a legislative task force has met to begin looking at ways to address school funding through the upcoming legislative session.

These are planned and purposeful actions towards sustainability.

The mayor, on the other hand, asked the Hartford Public School Unions on October 1st to participate in a committee to create a five-year plan for educational excellence, but has yet to convene that committee.

In a system of checks and balances, such as our city charter allows, where does the duty to act outweigh the power to wait?

I urge you, the city council, to show your commitment to all the children of Hartford and exercise your duty to act.

Unpause this pause.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Next, we have uh Corey Betts.

Good evening, Council members.

My name is Corey Betts, and I am president of the Greater Hartford branch of the NAACP.

First, I would like to congratulate Council President TJ Clark on your new leadership, bro.

The community is watching, and we expect strong, transparent governance.

Tonight I am speaking because there are serious concerns about the process or lack of process behind the city pause on approved school construction projects.

A recent memorandum to the Hartford School Building Committee cites ordinance language allowing the mayor to appoint consultants and take necessary actions, but that same member will make something else absolutely clear.

Once the school construction project is placed on the state priority list and approved for funding, the Hartford School Building Committee, not the mayor, assumes full responsibility for managing that project.

The law says the committee is in charge.

The committee never discussed or voted on a pause, to my understanding, yet a pause was announced anyway.

So my first question is direct.

Was the Hartford School Building Committee bypassed?

And if so, under what authority?

The city new coordinated effort to transform Hartford School discussion, discuss closures and major shifts, yet does not mention the Hartford Board of Education.

That omission is alarm.

Connecticut law is clear.

The Board of Education controls all school buildings.

The Board of Education controls all public schools.

Only the Board of Education can close a school.

How can anyone talk about transforming Hartford schools while excluding the only body legally authorized to make those decisions?

Let me be clear.

The NAACP is not here to rubber stamp decisions made behind closed doors.

We are here to ensure our children's education is protected by law, due process, and true community engagement, not unilateral actions.

Council President TJ.

Clark, congratulations again, and I hope your leadership will bring to accountability and clarity this moment demands.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is Lisa Crowley.

Hello, my name is Lisa Crowley, and I'm here on behalf of Hartford Public Schools.

I'm a speech pathologist at Moylan Elementary School, and I have proudly served the students of Hartford for 24 years, and the past four years being at Moyland School.

I'm here to address the pause on construction.

During my time at Moylan, I've seen various issues with leaks in the roof and water damage, only to have repairs in one section lead to resolving of an issue in one area, but problems in other areas.

As um Carol Gale had mentioned, we have a stairwell that constantly has water leaking any time it rains, to the point the custodial staff has to put buckets in the hallway to catch the water dripping.

This water issues have also caused cost electrical issues.

One day we had a fire alarm that was tripped, and we had to evacuate in the drizzling rain for about 30 minutes.

Students' staff standing out in those conditions in order for the fire department to assess whether or not this was a considerable safety issue, and we had to go home or they could fix it and we were allowed back in.

But again, we were outside for 30 minutes in the rain.

In addition, there are several stairwells where the plastic coating is off the stairs, either it's held on by duct tape or missing.

Again, another safety issue.

This is a safety issue for students and staff.

I have been working as well as my colleagues under these conditions with the belief that we were scheduled for major renovations and repairs in the summer of 2025, only to find that that was paused for no reason known to us or being able to be given to us.

So I am here tonight to request that this pause be reconsidered and removed.

If you look at our school improvement data, despite these working conditions, the staff, the students show up each day ready to work, and we've made growth on our SBAC assessments and other achievement data.

So I'm here to ask that again you remove this pause and give us a safe conditions that we our students in the City of Hartford staff students truly deserve.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is Shelley Davis.

Good evening, Council members.

My name is Shelley Davis.

I am president of the Hartford Federation of Paraeducators, AFT Local 221.

Our address is 85 Buckingham Street.

For over 30 years, I have served the students of this city.

I have walked the halls, I have fought for our paraeducators, and I have always been a partner in finding solutions.

We keep hearing the mayor talk about fiscal responsibility.

We keep hearing about getting it right.

We hear that we need to pause construction to protect the taxpayers' pocket.

But let me tell you what pause looks like in a classroom in our school building.

Pausing looks like a seven-year-old sitting in math class wearing a winter coat and a hat because the heating system doesn't work and blowing cold air through vents that are filled with potential harmful contents.

How does that show quality education?

How do you justify a child shivering while trying to learn to read?

So I am not just speaking as a union president tonight.

I am speaking as a casualty of this pause.

I am standing here right now with screws in my right foot.

I am a working comp recipient.

I had to undergo major surgery, not because I was clumsy, but because I work at Moylan School, where there are leaks from the roof and buckets are literally on the floor to catch the water.

We talk about being smart with money.

We talk about pausing and putting together a five-year plan of excellence.

Last year at Ross and School during election season, Senator Doug McCorry fell in a pothole at Rosson.

And it was a hazard.

It was dangerous.

And you know what happened?

The hole was filled the very same day.

So I have to ask why is the safety immediate for a senator but optional for our students.

Why do we have to bathe for the bare minimum when a VIP trips the asphalt truck pulls up in an hour?

When a kindergartner freezes, we get a press release about a strategic plan.

One thing the mayor and I do agree with, we do have to get it right.

But getting it right doesn't mean stopping.

You can't pause a child's health.

You can't pause a leaking roof, and mold does not wait for a fiscal report.

It grows, it spreads, and it makes our children sick.

So you ask what the smart thing to do is.

The smart thing is to realize the deferred maintenance is a debt.

You can never pay off.

If we don't fix these schools now, we won't be closing them because of enrollment numbers.

We'll be closing them because they are condemned.

This is not saving money, this is destroying our assets.

So the money was allocated, the state said yes, the voters said yes, and we are asking for sustainable plan, which means fixed the heat today so the students can be healthy enough to graduate tomorrow.

It means we pour the concrete now, so we aren't paying workers' compensation claims for the next 10 years.

Thank you, and please do the right thing.

Have a good night.

Thank you.

Yes.

Good evening to the council and all the people who are attending here tonight.

I have two items that I would like to bring up.

The first one, about three days ago, I saw a copy of the ordinance that Councilman Micktum has put on the agenda to be hopefully voted on this evening.

I want to say that I stand 100% along with what he has written for when people are through no fault of their own displaced from their homes.

Right around this time, last year, the Concord Hills tenants were almost six months out of their homes after being deplaced by a fire in August.

They suffered some very hard times.

You all know this.

You all know what happened.

They were put in some horrible uh hotels and motels by the city.

They went into deep depression.

They lost many of their possessions when the ownership of the buildings they lived in allowed people to take keys to all the apartments after they've been evacuated, and when they came back, they found their belongings were gone.

Many of these people had medical issues after they did suffer Great Depression, and they did not receive any compensation for their properties that were lost.

Apparently, the city did not were not able to get that from the ownership of the building.

So I feel that Councilman Mictum's ordinance that he's put out here is a very important one, and I would be very pleased to know that this body will use their integrity and to please go along with that.

We don't want anything like this to happen again.

The other thing I want to say briefly is this.

Uh before that could even happen.

This is what needs to be done.

Raising, not lowering standards for graduation at high school level.

Eliminating social promotion in elementary and middle schools.

Insisting that teachers post students true grades on report cards and in their records, not what they are told to do against what they know is the truth.

Initiate a broader and stronger arts curriculum that includes events showcasing their skills and accomplishments.

Ensure that every public school in the city has a comprehensive and daily functioning library with at least one librarian on site.

At high school level, there must be more student-run clubs, activities, and organizations that make them want to come to school.

One one second, please, TJ.

Pay raises and fair benefits for paraprofessionals and all other facilities workers.

Ensure there is a sufficient number of on-site teachers to cover all elective courses at the high school level, student disciplinary action when necessary, students' mandatory show of respect for administrators, teachers, and all other school staff.

And finally, of major importance, there needs to be a lot more parental involvement with the schools, including attending PTO PTA meetings, annual open house nights, volunteering and communication with teachers and administrators.

Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

Michael Downs.

And as the timekeeper, let me just chime in and say it's a lot of people here.

So the more you can keep it to three minutes without making us feel bad for interrupting you, the happier we all are.

Thank you, Councilman.

Well stated.

Good evening, uh Council members.

Uh my name is Michael Downs.

I live at 674 Rosemont Street in Hartford, Connecticut.

And uh I am president of the Hartford Federation of Substitute Teachers.

Uh that's one union I belong to and president of that union.

I also belong to uh uh uh uh local 1716 asked me local 1716.

I have here a headline in the paper said Hartford leaders don't care about education.

I'm sure as Hartford leaders, you do care about education, and you don't want people writing about that unless uh and I'm sure it's not true here, but it seems to be true from the mayor's office as he wants to pause these uh constructions of uh actually the renovations of schools that leak and uh cause uh unsafe conditions for students to learn in and teachers to teach in.

Um also there's a question of the legality of the uh uh of the mayor's uh pause uh in that the uh he's bypassing the Hybrid Board of Education and uh they run uh the schools and they also uh make the decisions on uh renovations and uh the money spent and uh the money uh that we uh get from the state to have this spent, and the money's already been uh appropriated from the state.

So uh what happens is if we pause this uh these uh rec uh the uh reconstruction of these schools we were uh um uh we stayed a chance of losing that money.

Um and uh and we certainly don't want to lose that money.

And uh I know that uh many of the leaders uh don't want to see children the schools close.

The the uh mayor has mentioned that he wanted to consolidate schools.

That means the schools are closing, and where as many of our students be shipped out to the more of our students be shipped out to the suburbs, and we save the city's the schools in the suburbs, we can't save our own schools.

And um that's not the way to do things, especially when we have to pay, and the state's not paying for that.

They should pay for that uh for the uh transportation cost, but they do not.

And uh I just want to uh say that uh we have to that's something that the city council should uh be uh very concerned about.

And um and uh I don't know how your relationship with the mayor uh is, but uh, they should talk to him.

Somebody should talk to him.

And uh I would like to say also he's got this uh person that runs the uh uh the recreation department, Brian Gallagher, who uh um wants to get into the Hartford Public Schools, and uh he uh uh uh assigns jobs.

Um one one uh of the worker uh uh said that the jobs are assigned according to uh uh whether uh you know race uh he engaged in racism, sexism, and ageism.

And uh I don't think we uh well somebody like that in our Hartford public schools.

Thank you.

Thank you, Bill Katz.

Thank you.

Um I'm here uh mainly uh to discuss the uh ordinance that's going to be uh made a public hearing next Monday, but uh just uh a few few thoughts on it.

And uh the the ordinance is going to center around the limiting the number of felines and calines allowed in one house, uh up to six, as I'm told.

And first, I that's the most ridiculous thing to to propose as an ordinance to uh limit that there are other ways of dealing with this issue if if any homeowner does have too many uh uh animals in the house, and that and that centers around caring for them.

And you know, it it brings me to mind, and I'll I'll I'll quote uh from uh Mohamagande that once said the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

And in Harford, especially, and I know I know that there are other issues around uh in other municipalities, but in Hartford, uh Harford does not give a damn at all for the feline population.

Cats are routinely run over, and their lives are so abbreviated.

And there is a group of us uh that do rescue, and we need support from the municipality.

We don't need to have the municipality creating an ordinance limiting the quantity of uh these creatures in our homes, because first of all, it's unenforceable, it's unenforceable for this reason.

If somebody had a warrant to come into my house to count the animals, they wouldn't get in over my dead body.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Paul Moda Paul Mata, one line in place, local 760 vice president.

Good evening, Council President, members of the City Council, and members of our community.

On behalf of the Hartford Fire Department, I want to begin by expressing our sincere gratitude to Council President Shirley Surgeon for her unwavering dedication to the City of Hartford and for always being an advocate for the men and women of the Hartford Fire.

Her leadership, compassion, and commitment to the city have never gone unnoticed.

Council President, we truly cannot thank you enough for the support you have shown us throughout the years.

I also want to offer a heartfelt congratulations to TJ Clark on becoming the new city council president.

TJ has been a long friend to Hartford Fire, a partner who understands our challenges, respects our service, and stands with us as we work to protect this community.

We look forward to continuing that strong relationship and working collaborately with him in the entire council in the next months and years ahead.

Tonight marks 342 days without a contract.

Let me repeat myself 342 days.

The Hartford Fire Department has been working without a contract.

This has been a long, difficult stretch for our members and their families.

Yet through that time, we have continued to show up every single day, answering every call, protecting our residents, and giving the city everything that we have.

We deeply appreciate the support the city council has shown us throughout this process, and just as importantly, we want to thank the community, the people that we serve and love for the encouragement and solidarity they continue to show.

Your support keeps us going, and it strengthens our resolve as we fight for a fair and just contract.

We are committed to Harford, we are committed to public safety, and we are committed to working with all of you to ensure that Harvard Fire has resources, respect, stability needed to continue serving this community.

Thank you and look forward to working to with you guys.

Thank you.

Peter Little Thank you, Council Members.

I'm Peter Little, uh co-founder of American Justice Project and a member, the only non-melanated member of the Greater Hartford African American Alliance.

I'm here tonight to speak to the breakdown in the CPRB, the Civilian Police Review Board, that its new Inspector General Joe Lopez revealed to the community on November 19.

Some of you council members were present, others from the community.

First, some history.

After decades of weak oversight, in which the community was poorly served by the HPD's internal affairs process, and by the original CPRB, Civilian Police Review Board, since its creation in 1993, this council strengthened the underlying ordinance.

It was exactly five years ago, last month.

And I think Councilman Rosado, Councilman Mixtam, and Councilman Clark probably had a major hand in architecting the new ordinance.

Everyone on the council took a deserved victory lap.

It was a very public celebration of a strengthened framework for police oversight in Hartford, one that the media reported as leading the state.

But the community learned uh from Inspector General Lopez on November 19 that the CPRB has not yet achieved its vision.

And quote, still has a long way to go.

Earlier presenters that evening, Eric Crawford, the former chairman of the CPRB, and even Liam Brennan, the uh first full-time inspector general reported that the CPRB had lots of good meetings, had built a database and frequently consulted with the police union.

But it wasn't until the final few minutes of the November 19 meeting during its public comments segment.

Some of you had to leave early and perhaps didn't hear this, that the community community learned that jaw-droppingly, the CPRB had failed in its most fundamental mandate.

That is transmitting sustained misconduct findings to the chief of police for possible administration of discipline.

This failure was corrected by I.G.

Lopez at the beginning of this year, but from 2021 to 2024, there were about 75 individuals who filed complaints, endured interviews, and believed that the city was keeping its promise to take their complaints seriously.

Now it appears the CPRB isn't all that interested in retroactively remedying this failure, and that's what I'm here to speak to tonight.

Time limits in the union contract make discipline moot, perhaps impossible to administer, even if warranted, and the CPRB just wants to move forward.

Folks, there's an expression, trust is gained in drops and lost in buckets.

And so we, American Justice Project, and I think I can speak for others in the community who've been affected by police misconduct.

Call for courage.

Please do the right thing.

Look into this.

We have a five-point remedy that we're about to present to the community by email drop this week.

You'll be hearing from us.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Congratulations.

Can you hear me?

Yes, ma'am.

Well, thank you.

Um everyone, and it's great to see the public.

As your treasure of the city of Hartford, uh, I wrote an important letter to the mayor, which I share with all the member council today, and I hope you get an opportunity to read this very thoroughly.

Uh the community needs to know that the treasurer's office has not been functioning for the last two months and a half uh simply because we had a commissioner who we all know and respect.

Uh Sean Wooden, who was a former state treasurer, moved from Hartford to Farm and 10, and therefore there is a vacancy in our commission.

And according to the charter, when it comes to residency and vacancy, the mayor has the authority to appoint someone.

Traditionally, the city former city treasurer would communicate with the mayor and provide a recommendation, being that we, as treasurer, work with these commissioners and know the in and outs of what we need.

And so, therefore, not having a commission on board does not allow us to move forward with business.

It creates a lot of problems not being able to approve the pension application as well as the disability cases, the quadrals, and everything else.

So I am strongly recommending for our city council members uh to work uh quickly with our mayor, and hopefully he will take this consideration seriously and resolve this issue once and for all so that I can move forward with my chairman who's also concerned, and accept the recommendation of Michelle Parada, who everybody knows who has an incredible, credible background and experience in this city.

And not only that, but um we have not had a woman on the board since the acception of this pension commission, and it's a shame because we need representation of women on the board, and not only that, but women also worked hard, and they also have a pension, and so they also have a voice, and we need women at the pension commission.

So I did submit the letter.

Please take it very seriously, and I hope that the mayor, I know you listening, uh, please resolve this issue immediately because we need to continue our business with the pension commission.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Treasurer.

Dr.

Benjamin Foster.

Dr.

Foster Dr.

Foster.

All right, we'll go back to Dr.

Foster.

Stan McCauley.

Good evening, uh, Council members, and congratulations on uh your uh return to the presidency of the council.

Um 77 Wadsworth Street, Hartford, Connecticut, resident and constituent, also president of the Great Harper African American Alliance.

So tonight I am here as a constituent and uh with a request of my nine members of council that represent the constituents at large.

Uh tonight I'm speaking on the uh issue of our mayor and his uh exercising authority that he does not have.

Uh I'm not an attorney, so I really don't have any legal uh you know knowledge, but uh as a constituent, I believe the mayor is out of pocket.

He absolutely positively does not have the authority to operate in the arena that he is operating in.

The state statute is extremely clear.

The city charter is extremely clear, even to what the qualifications of the representatives that he gets to appoint.

I mean the uh state statute in uh Connecticut General Statute Section 10, uh 220 and section 1022, gives the Board of Education, which is a quasi-state agency, the responsibility for discharging the you know, the state's constitutional role of educating the children of Connecticut.

There is a firewall between the municipal political body and the education political body, uh, and the way to pierce that firewall has been provided through the city charter, which gives the mayor the ability to appoint five people.

The five people he appoints have to have certain qualifications, and the mayor has given due diligence to consider the five people that he appointed to represent his interests as well as the city's interests, because they are by definition subject matter experts, which he is not, but they are.

Now, the people that were voted into office uh were well known.

Sean Tay Brody is the chairman, that was known at the time of the election, and more people came out to vote for Board of Education members this year than the last time they came out to vote.

In fact, the numbers were almost double.

Same cannot be said for city council and the mayor.

Uh I voted for four three people.

Uh uh, I voted for Seuntay, as I knew she was chair, and I I like the fact that she is the chair.

I voted for many of you sitting up there, including you, Mr.

President, uh, and and some of the others.

The mayor is displeased with the vote of the constituents of the city that voted for that current board.

And in my opinion, I believe the mayor is trying to usurp the authority of the constituents for whom he works in pushing aside our vote.

They are our representatives on the education body politic.

Stan, please uh please wrap up.

Okay.

The five people he appointed disagree with him.

He's out of pocket, and I'm asking the members of the city council to ask the city attorney for a legal opinion.

Does the mayor have the authority or not?

Yes or no.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Michelle Watley.

Good evening, council.

I'm gonna speak a little out of my voices.

Or good evening.

My name is Michelle Watley, 56 months also tongue committee for the seven days.

I listened to everyone complain this evening about what what need to be done and what not to be done, but I narrow it down into is a lot of Christian banari down to treat these education, slum launch, retirement.

If we don't have the school system, the children in the school, we are here fighting for our kids.

And I think what we need to do as a parents, as a grandparents, as an auntie, as a cousin, as a niece, nephew.

Bring all the kids here.

Let me hear it from them, what they want it to be done.

Because if we don't invest in our children, where are we gonna be?

Where are we gonna end up?

What we're gonna do when we get old, we're gonna come back to the same solution.

I remember this 20 years ago, we fight for education when I was an acorn member.

Now we fight them for slum lawn lord.

People work hard.

Parents work so hard.

Little next money to come home, and it's not a decent place, just like in the school system, it's not a decent place.

One thing they need to bring back in the school system is a resource, parents, resource, connect with all the parents.

Because what I'm hearing, I think I will get some kids from the school system, and then not a city council meeting, and we're gonna hear it from the high school to the pre-K and hear it what they have to say.

Some Lord, we need to pass a solution to not have out a tongue lawnlord come in in our state and have people leave them in poor condition, kids get in education and gotta go home.

They're in a bad environment in school and gotta go home and see the apartment slump.

Mr.

President TJ Carter, congratulations.

But I'm asking you.

Thank you.

Good evening, um, council president, council um person.

My name is Phyllis Erie.

I am um spokesperson for the 7th District County Committee.

First, I would like to thank uh council President Shirley Surgeon, majority leader, Marilyn Rosati, and assistant, majority leader, uh Thomas Clark for the hard work that you have done over the past year, two years.

We extremely appreciate it.

We know it's not easy.

Leadership is never easy, especially starting out with a new administration.

We know how difficult that is.

Try to work with everyone in the administration to get your goals and achieve your um a successful outcome.

The I remember growing up in Hartford and going to school, and we have a lot less schools than we have now.

But I know that I got a really good education.

I went to Annie, I went to Northwest Jones, I went to Annie Fisher, I went to Fox Middle School, and I got a really good education.

And I'm during the baby boomer age, and it was a lot of us around, right?

And and there was arts, there was music.

It was a well-rounded um academic program.

And that's what we want to see now.

I was at a point of ed meeting where just as many individuals was there saying we need to close schools.

And then you have this much people here saying we don't want schools closed, or we want the constructions done.

This is what you're gonna have to deal with, as you know.

So coming in with your experience and knowledge and having uh congratulations to Kelly and uh Amilcar who will be on on your on the leadership team as well.

I think that would be a nice diverse um leadership team to handle a lot of this.

Again, um congratulations and again, Marilyn, since you're the only one here, and Shirley, if she's listening.

Um thank you very much.

Thank you.

Alyssa Peterson.

Good evening, Council.

Alyssa Peterson, Grandview Terrace.

I am here to speak on item 7.2.

I was shocked to learn about this covert resolution submitted by Councilman TJ Clark nominating himself for council president.

I was grateful to receive a phone call from our council president surgeon on Friday, assuring me her name was listed on the resolution in error.

Former Council President Rosato also called to say the same.

I understand Mr.

Clark would not be on this council, but for our former mayor Luke Bronin, now a congressional candidate, who was forced to place him on his re-election slate by the Hartford Democratic Town Committee and certain members of the North End community, despite public publicized allegations of sexual harassment.

Or else Mr.

Bronin could never have been renominated and re-elected against other mayoral candidates like State Rep McGee or former Mayor Eddie Perez.

The city ended up paying over 250,000 in legal fees and payment for the victim without former Mayor Bronin properly negotiating Mr.

Clark's resignation or repayment from his future counsel salary or even pension revocation.

Luke Bronan failed us then, and the cover-up of this sexting scandal is ongoing, while a new congressional campaign season is about to begin.

As members of council know, I was able to file a four-year request and received eight deposition transcripts and two hundred and fifty-sixth published by Mr.

Clark.

According to an attorney on the case previously, there were estimated to be a thousand six, but they couldn't all be recovered during discovery.

Such negative mayoral and council history are now fair game again because of the covert and wrongful manner in which the current resolution was submitted, and because many of you know the shameful contexts of these sects, and because of the upcoming congressional challenge.

Therefore, I do not apologize for asking that you postpone this vote on resolution 7.2 and find a compromise candidate.

Otherwise, you need to explain to voters and to your families how you were going to justify appointing a new council president who sent a council aid sixth that alluded to touching her, oiling up her body, oral sex, anal sex, biting, buying her a size 34 C bra and meeting up with her, all interspersed with juvenile emoji figures.

Mark my words, this untold scandal story will only get worse during the upcoming national congressional campaign.

Former Mayor Bronin came out swinging with strong words against sexual harassment, then cowardly shut up when the Democratic machine came after him, and he fought deposition subpoenas before agreeing to have the city settle without any consequence to Mr.

Clark.

Then he hid behind the never published sex and never shared them with the public either.

Please quickly end the council story tonight by postponing the vote while Mr.

Bronin's story and his role in this scandal have yet to be uncovered in a congressional race of national importance.

Thank you for allowing me to speak.

Van Byrne Powell.

I'm one of the displaced tenants from Alpha 271 Weathersfield Avenue.

I've come here with a list of demands, but before I start with that, I would just like to start off by saying I would like more of a certain certainty and more of a foot forward when it comes to Hartford in general, because as you can see, this is a beautiful city.

As somebody that was not born in Connecticut or from Connecticut, viewing from the outside in, it's it it tarnishes the legacy of Hartford, the way that these things are going, and it's it's honestly a very hurtful thing.

Being a taxpayer, a a tenant, one of one of one of the people that you know go out there on a regular day-to-day, just like everybody else, and to just know that all of it was for not, and then the afterward effects, the the um the uh the way we were being treated, the way everybody is is you know, they look at us, they see us, and then you know, questions start to fly and it starts to hurt because you you realize that you weren't at this point beforehand, and now due to landlord negligence, landlord not you know contacting its tenants, not trying to um make sure there's actually a relationship between the landlord and tenant.

It it hurts and it's it's saddening knowing that this is the state of Hartford right now, and there is not really much being done about it.

My list of demands, I would just I would like more of landlords being screened before they are able to even get a property, or if they do succeed in getting the property, the property that they are being screened for, or that the property that they are trying to buy out is up to code.

It is safe for the tenants to live around, to be around.

It I want it not to be a certainty for certain tenants to come into Hartford and they have to question themselves on whether they want to live here or not.

I really found Hartford to be a very beautiful place, and it's sad to know that the way Hartford is going right now with all the fires, all the drug trafficking, all the sex trafficking, all of these things around these lower end apartments because that's the ones that need the most care, the high-end ones that have the 24 unit family homes and all of these things, those are the ones that have the detention, but the lower ones with the 12 units, the sick units, they're not getting enough attention, and that's what I want to bring to light right now.

I want all these apartments, not just even the low-end ones, but the ones that are not being treated carefully, not being taken care of, um, not being taken care of.

I want them to show that I want the landlords to show that they care about their tenants and where they're putting them, and that it's not just an everyday thing and it's a profit game.

So, and then for the last bit of my time, I would like to request an apology from all of the councilmen, women too, for the displacing for each and every tenant that's been in Hartford since the last maybe what four to ten years.

I would just like a sincere, I want to feel that the council people actually understand what everyone is going through.

That's been through the schools and the displacements of the landlords and everything.

I just I want the council to feel like you know, hey guys, we understand where you guys are coming from, and we are here with you guys, but it doesn't feel like that right now, honestly, and it's kind of disheartening.

So I would just like for just a formal apology, you know, just for everybody that's been displaced that's not here, that has to have a sign up right now instead of being in their home, you know, just going on a day-to-day as an average citizen.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Ryan Pyer.

It's Pierre.

Thank you.

Good evening.

My name is Ryan Peer.

I like the people standing behind me.

I'm a victim of a terrible structural fire at 271 Weathersfield Avenue.

Um, just a little bit about me.

I do work at one of the nonprofit organizations in the city.

I spent about 40 to 45 weeks, uh, 40 40 to 45 hours every week uh trying to make this city a better place, trying to help people with job opportunities.

I my labor goes directly to this city and to the people in this city.

All right, that is a similar job to what you people do.

You guys have a similar set of responsibilities.

You we are taxpayers, and with all due respect, you guys work for us.

We do not work for you, we do not wait for you to do your jobs.

I understand you guys may have a lot on your plate, as maybe was mentioned earlier.

Um I don't know if anybody in this room feels like maybe they don't have a lot on their plate, but everybody's job is hard.

These are the jobs that you guys signed up for.

Okay.

The tenants in your city that pay rent have not been done kindly by the work that you do.

You guys do not have high enough standards in writing, and then the standards that you do have for landlords in writing do not get enforced.

We're victims of a fire.

We're victims of a robbery.

We were not allowed into our building for six days following the fire.

By the time we got in there, everything was trashed, destroyed, rummaged through.

Not a single person had their belongings left alone.

Not a single person had their units not broken into.

Every single one of us, and this happens all the time.

Uh, we've been displaced for about 35 to 40 days now since the day before Halloween, and uh there have been several such fires since then.

And every time I hear a multi-chalk response when you know I'm on break at work and I'm in the city just trying to enjoy, like Van said, the beautiful city that Hartford is and can be.

All I can think about is myself getting rescued from a ladder or or or you know, some of our our friends and and our fellow our our neighbors in that building, you know, running back into a smoking building to to try to save people that they care about and and just the the not just the physical aspect of it.

When I got down from that ladder, I knew I was safe, but I didn't sleep for another four or five days.

I want you guys to understand what that's like.

I I want you guys to take a second and understand what it might really feel like for the place that you're paying rent where your labor is supposed to be converted into safety to be utterly and completely failed.

Not even close.

And that's what's frustrating.

That's what's frustrating for us as far as us in our building goes.

It's too late to help us, quite frankly.

And that's an unfortunate uh part of our situation.

Uh we are, you know, as friends and family just trying to power through.

Uh, but I hope you guys see the size of the people that showed up here.

Um we are going to be calling to action similar victims.

Uh, and this is only gonna grow if if tangible change is not seen.

Um, I see have a little bit of time left.

As Van said, I would like an apology.

You guys have live microphones in front of you.

I mean, I really want an apology.

Five seconds.

I'm sorry we failed you.

Thank you, Josh.

I yield my time.

Thank you.

Thank you, Josh.

Thank you, Josh.

Thank you, Josh.

Thank you.

Rachel McCoy.

Richard.

Sorry, a little nervous.

Um I just wanted to speak just a short brief of um the unsafe and unacceptable conditions that me and my child experienced.

Um I had dealt with a gas leak in my home, um, and it took forever to be fixed because I we hadn't been experiencing unlicensed maintenance, and the health department was contacted, and they are informed of unlay unlicensed maintenance workers.

Um we also was dealing with you know experience with um people selling drugs, prostitution, people sleeping in hallways, um laudering, um the landlord's lack of communication with regards to concerns um about maintenance and safety.

Um items were stolen that I worked hard for, and I won't get that back.

Um also waiting on security positive.

It's been over a month now and haven't heard from the landlord with regards to my security deposit.

Um no apologies from the landlord as well.

Um I just want landlords to take accountability for their actions.

Rent is high, um, yet landlords take people's money and provide unsafe um and unstable housing.

Their negligence destroys lives, disrupts families, and in my case has left me starting over.

My child and I deserve better.

All tenants deserve better, and I'm speaking today because no one should ever go through what I had experienced.

Thank you.

Victor M.

As I hear we have uh language justice here.

He just stepped away.

Um is there someone that can speak and then we come back to him?

I'm so sorry.

So you don't have a system for language justice that the mayor announce.

I'm not sure if it's available correctly.

That has not been implemented yet.

Okay.

I will I will try to translate the best I can, okay?

And if you can give me some time, pause.

Okay.

Okay.

Thank you.

Yes.

Good evening, my name is Victor, and I live at 271 Wethersfield Avenue.

I'm one of the residents that most have lived there in this building over 26 years.

And we've been fighting for the last three years to get better housing in this property.

Throughout the three years we've made numerous calls to the landlord, but never received a callback.

He said that they they called the city and there should be a log of how many times they call and what was wrong with the building.

Because because the landlord did not follow through on what the inspectors put up with their complaints, he feels that that's why they're in this position right now.

Because living right now in a hotel is not having a home.

Because we all here and various individuals in the city of Hartford have a home through the holidays and they do not.

And because uh the building um was not properly secured, they lost all their personal belongings.

Gracias.

Thank you.

They said a faulty wire.

Nothing to do with anything.

Can you come to the microphone, please?

Our building burned down due to a structural fire that started in the basement due to faulty wiring.

Uh there was absolutely nothing that a tenant could have done to ever prevent what happened to us.

It was strictly uh building codes and then those not being held up.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Hi, my name is Marisol Herman, and I am here with my uh neighbors demanding uh many things.

The city should cover our hotel expenses, we'll be located and safe and affordable places to live.

Um apartamentos sobre los proprietarios que regularmente violan los codigos de vivienda.

La ciudad de Harvard deveria anunciar publicamente esta información lo antes possible.

The city of Harford should inform tenants looking for a permanent about Langros will regularly violate housing code.

The city of Harford should publicly announce the information as soon as possible.

Rosandola Negligencia.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I I have a question.

You mentioned that you weren't allowed to go back in.

Who from the city made that call to not go back in to get just up?

You said the fire marshal's office.

I mean, we waited for a good four or five hours in his uh car.

Uh one of us actually was pretty determined to get back in there because they kind of saw what was coming.

Uh and he basically told him that he would be arrested if he entered the building.

Uh they hung around until the evening time.

We were all scrambling to find somewhere to stay for the night.

Uh and then by I think one or two AM that night, uh somebody was in a black Honda taking our consoles, our televisions, our belongings, uh, and there is video evidence of that.

Um I see some puzzled faces looking at me.

It's very much what happened.

Um yeah, so they sent an officer there, and then that all that did was all basically the point of that was to tell us that we would be trespassing for entering the homes that our leases were active at, and then uh somebody went in there and took what they wanted.

And and Councilman Clerk, I can just chime in because I know a little more about this.

There was a call that involved um both a representative of the landlord, a lawyer for some of the tenants, and somebody from the city, and basically the person from the city said, if the landlord lets you in, you can go in, and the landlord said, I'm not gonna do it at this point.

And it was after that that the robbery happened, which was witnessed by folks in the neighboring building who didn't call the cops.

And if I can call the cops.

If I can add the in the six days in between the fire and us being allowed in the building, nothing changed in terms of structural integrity.

They didn't do anything to like try to protect us.

There was no liability.

And I would like to reiterate that we were told by officers that we would be trespassing by entering our homes.

Six days.

You said six days.

Six days.

The fire happened on a Thursday.

Uh, and we all had our hearts broken on a Wednesday morning.

And follow-up question, security deposits.

Nowhere to be found.

Say that again.

Nowhere to be found.

Nobody.

The security deposits.

Nobody's received them.

And has there have there been a request?

Yeah, there's been multiple acquires by all the tenants.

Yeah, I I was contacted, I think, maybe 30 days ago, which I I have in writing.

Uh I gave them a forwarding address to a friend that I'm staying with right now as to where my where to send my uh security deposit.

Like I said, that was about 30 days ago, and it's nowhere to be found.

Who's who's who's this owner?

Israel Wisnitzer.

Okay.

Uh it could be um All Is Good Incorporated.

Um Arlington Management, Mint Management, um Nevo Schneider is the leasing agent who shows most of his buildings in New Britain and in Hartford.

I actually, in my apartment hunt, I got in contact with him about somewhere in New Britain, and I was very honest with him.

I said last time I rented from you, uh, the apartment went up in flames, and you didn't show up for the tour.

Do you think that this will be any different?

And I have this in writing.

His reply to me was that he did not think the unit that he was showing was for me.

I I have that in writing if you guys would like to see.

I'm sorry.

We also all have writing of the landlord pressing for rent after the fire has concurred.

Oh, we he he also blocked me that Wednesday when we saw uh that we had been robbed.

I have a screenshot of my phone that I was blocked when I called him and I told him what happened.

So how how many of you are still in hotels?

Nobody has a place yet.

Nobody has a place.

24 of us were displaced, nobody's found anything.

Um I'm sorry, I can't hear you.

Twenty-four of us were displaced, and nobody's found anything.

At all.

We're we're all in Super 8, sir, crashing with friends and family.

Economy in Roaches, rats, no kitchen, mold.

How many at Super Eight?

Uh I'm at Super 8 currently.

Out of the out of the 24.

There's 24 of us, I would get what, like 20?

No, like there, there, yeah, there's the econ in.

It's it's it there's a lot of like like trashy motels.

It's it's kind of spread out a little bit.

And some of them are staying with their friends and family.

And is the city taking is the city picking the tab picking up the tab?

Uh the city picked up the tab the first month, but after things went on, we were told that we would have to figure the way out afterwards.

So Red Cross, they made sure to establish that after a certain time of the Red Cross being able to help us out, we'd have to figure it out after that.

And that was only like 90 days, correct?

Yeah, which it hasn't been yet.

How much notice advanced notice did the city provide you that they were going to stop paying?

Not much.

They haven't gave us really much of an advanced notice.

Have they?

No.

I've not not much notice at all.

I uh from what I've heard, I I've heard that uh the hotels themselves are taking action for, you know, if they haven't received payment, obviously, you know, none of us had it in the budget to be paying whatever per day, you know, just to lay our heads down and and not be out on the street.

Uh so there, I think some of us uh uh that are staying in in hotels and things like that right now don't have the money at all to do it or are completely running out of money.

They don't have kitchenettes, they they're eating takeout, they're you know what I mean.

And uh I think the the hotels, I know certain people were asked to just get rid of their pets, just get rid of them, just get rid of your dog, just get rid of your cat.

These were things that people were told.

Um I wasn't allowed into uh the hotels that Red Cross was willing to help with um because uh of my pets, and then um they told me because I didn't select the right one that I was only eligible for certain things.

Um they don't care, truthfully.

There it's not a concern of theirs.

It's it's about not getting yelled at more than anything.

Thank you.

We're gonna since Councilman Mitcham has been closely working with you all.

We're gonna work through it.

But in um the city of Harper, um, City of Harford, they're not really helping with housing.

All they did was give us a list of houses to apply to, which we have to come out of pocket for application fees.

Okay.

Thank you all.

And we didn't ask me to this to be displaced as well.

Okay.

Thank you.

Josh, thank you for being the only one to apologize.

Thank you.

Carmen Rodriguez.

Housing is a human rights.

Housing is a human right.

Housing is a human right.

My land are for housing authority.

I'm coming here in honor looking for justice.

Um I just try to say my home.

If for no reason they take me to court, and I'm tired, be quiet.

I used to be a victim of domestic violence for eleven years.

And thanks to my husband, I'm standing right here.

Thanks to him, and I got my family safe.

And um I tried to live in my um my home since 2004.

And since that I saw fight me and my landlord, try this day keeping my my house just to thank God that I got the city of Hartford.

They do the inspection, they face in my home, but after that, they do a retaliation towards me.

So I just come in here to asking you for a consideration and looking for in my case.

Not only for me, maybe other people got the same problem that when you speak up and try to looking for justice, they just do a retaliation and take you to court and kick you out of your property for no reason.

So hopefully, I know you guys are very busy and got more important things to do, but I just try to say my home.

And hopefully you guys can consider.

Thank you so much for your time.

I appreciate it.

Um hopefully hear from any of you and try to make a difference for my family and all that they don't afraid to speak, but I'm here to make a difference.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Last speaker, Dr.

Benjamin Foster, Dr.

Foster.

Yes.

But let me take this opportunity to congratulate you, and we look forward to working with you.

And we are just so very, very proud of you.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Well that concludes our public comment portion of our city council meeting.

We're going to do a brief recess since it's almost 728.

Uh, we're gonna recess for about five minutes.

Uh then we will uh reconvene for our uh regular schedule business.

Thank you.