Hartford Court of Common Council Public Comment Meeting - April 13, 2026
Hartford Court of Common Council Public Comment Meeting - April 13, 2026
The Hartford Court of Common Council convened a public comment meeting on April 13, 2026, presided over by Council President TJ Clark and joined virtually by Councilman Alex Thomas. The session allowed residents and officials to address the council on key city issues, including police accountability, education funding, littering, and commission appointments. No formal council discussion or votes took place.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Bill Katz (166 Linmore Street): Criticized the Hartford Current for unsolicited newspaper delivery, urging the council to create a littering ordinance. He also criticized the fire department's use of expensive ladder trucks for non-fire 911 medical calls and expressed support for acquiring a dedicated medic fleet.
- Patricia Adams (17 Reading Street): Petitioned to add her father, Nimlon L. Adams Sr., to the Adams Street Marquee. She detailed his decades of community service as a grocer, veteran, coach, and mentor in the Upper Albany neighborhood.
- J. Stan McCauley (77 Wadsworth Street): Addressed the police union contract, arguing that there is no gap between the community and police, but a gap with the union. He urged the council to prioritize residents' interests in upcoming negotiations, noting the contract expires June 30, 2026.
- Bridget Prince (41 Bywood Road, East Hartford): Supported Mayor Arulampalam's decision to fire Officer James Magnano, citing the Robert Lanza case as precedent for termination despite union opposition. She explicitly called for the firing of Police Union President James Rakowski.
- Peter Little: Amplified calls for police contract reform, criticizing the union's rhetoric. He argued the council's 2022 contract negotiations excluded community input and stated his group would deliver an analysis of problematic provisions in the 145-page contract.
- Michael Downs (74 Rosemont Street): Addressed the school budget shortfall. He argued the State of Connecticut owes Hartford significant funding based on historical education equity cases, claiming state policies stripped enrichment programs and caused enrollment to drop from 25,000 to 15,000 students.
- Siobhan Hamilton Burgess (35 Thomason Street): Advocated for expanded school-based health education, noting inconsistent implementation and a lack of evaluation measures. She formally requested a meeting with relevant council committees.
- City Treasurer Carmen Sierra: Supported the appointments of Michelle Parada (Pension Commission) and Kate Torres (Internal Audit Commission). She defended her office's performance managing a $1.2 billion pension fund that exceeded its 6.75% return target and urged the council to confirm them, despite what she characterized as a misleading letter from commission chair Joshua Goffrey.
Key Outcomes
No formal votes or council decisions were made during this public comment session. Speakers made the following requests and demands of the council:
- Police Contract Reform: Multiple speakers demanded the council assert authority over the police union contract before its June 30th expiration to strengthen accountability and community trust.
- Littering Ordinance: Resident Bill Katz requested the council create an ordinance to prevent unsolicited newspaper litter.
- Street Marquee Addition: The council was asked to consider adding Nimlon L. Adams Sr. to the Adams Street Marquee.
- School Health Education: A formal request was made for a committee meeting to discuss sustained funding and implementation of comprehensive health education.
- Commission Appointments: The council was urged to confirm two appointees to the Pension and Internal Audit Commissions.
- State Education Funding: A resident called on the council to advocate for the State of Connecticut to restore funding for enrichment programs in Hartford Public Schools.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. We'll like to call to order this public comment for our Court of Common Council meeting for today, April 13th, 2026. My name is Councilman TJ Clark. I am the council president, and I'm joined by Councilman Alex Thomas, who was uh joining us virtually. Uh this public comment portion of the city council meeting is being broadcasted live on the following outlets Comcast Channel 96, Frontier Channel 6032, HPA TV.org, HPA TV Facebook page, HPA TV YouTube channel, real cool TV, Apple TV, Amazon TV, and apps. This meeting is also being broadcasted on uh will be rebroadcasted on HPS TV YouTube channel and Facebook page. The public comments shall be conducted in accordance with the following procedures. Each person shall give his or her name, address, and if they represent a group or organization, and if so, please state what group or organization you are representing and their address. Every speaker shall limit his or her remarks to three minutes. All remarks shall be addressed to the council as a body and at not and not at any member of the council thereof. During public comment, no member of the council shall address the council as a member of the public. Any person who makes personal impertinent or slanderous remarks or who becomes boisterous while addressing the council shall be barred from further participation at the meeting unless permission to remain is granted by two-thirds vote of the council members present in voting. During the public comment period, members of the council are not allowed to debate with the speaker or among themselves about what's being said. However, council members are allowed to ask questions to the person speaking if they need clarification or for more information. And we would like to call first uh Bill Katz. First, I j I just want to leave uh a gift to the city council on the table, litter from uh the Harford Current that insists on uh polluting our law front lawns with unsolicited uh litter and and here it is. I'm real bad oh by the way. My name is Bill Katz. I live at 166 Linmore Street, Harvard. Um the main issue today is is littering. Um although I want to just uh add that I'm glad that I've heard somebody on council is finally after decades and decades of wasting tens of millions of dollars sending fire hook and truck ladders out on 911 calls that maybe will be you know progressing to uh purchase a fleet of vehicles to do that instead of wasting all of these extremely expensive truck and ladders. And I'm told that uh you're the person that is is uh looking into it. Other cities have done that a long time ago. West Hartford has has a separate uh medic level uh 911, but we send out truck and ladders. And by the way, a few weeks ago, my next door neighbor who has an adult son, someone accidentally pushed 911. They sent two truck and ladders out, rang the bell, and then got back in their vehicles and went back to the uh fire stations. What a waste and waste of of uh expensive machinery. Now, litter. Um that is litter from Harford Current. They toss it on our front lawns, and it remains very frequently uncollected because people don't want to pick it up. They didn't ask for it, it just stays there. Um a little history about the Harford Current and myself about 10 or 15 years ago. I asked circulation to end the littering power. And by the way, I'm I'm sorry that I'm talking to empty chairs, but I guess in the past I've talked to empty chairs even when they were occupied, but now they're really uh unoccupied tonight. Um so is anybody listening. I don't know why I'm here. Okay. So um 10 years ago more or more, I asked Circulation Department at the Hartford Current to end their uh unsolicited drops of litter. Uh they they ignored me. I then wrote a letter to the publisher of the current asking telling him that circulation ignored me, and please end it. He ignored me. About a month after that, I sent them a rather semi-threatening letter. And I said, uh, sir, you have ignored my request to end this litter problem. This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to collect this stuff up. I'm going to bring it down to the Hartford Current and dump it at your front door and call a press conference. And within a couple of weeks, our litter problem ended at least in my street. But I don't have that ability, I don't have that leverage anymore because they're not located in Harford. You need to create an ordinance to end it. We have a major litter problem on so many fronts, and I I used to try to convince people to listen to new ideas.
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