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.

You have to change the mindset of people.

I've never seen people until recently tossing stuff out their cars.

They're eating a McDonald's and the rapper goes out the wind.

I've never seen that happen before, except within the last few years.

I once went around to NRZs to try to convince people, because I thought people would listen to innovative ideas.

The first NRC outside of my district, the president said, Well, I'll give you 30 seconds.

And she cut me off mid-sentence at 30 seconds.

I got a round of applause, and I walked back to my car saying I've ended my ability.

Anyone wants to sit down with me and discuss multiple levels on how we can address the litter problem, I'm I'm happy to do so.

So enjoy the litter that I've gifted city council.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Patricia Adams.

Good evening and thank you for this opportunity to bring forth my petition to have my father's name Nimlon L.

Adams Sr.

Added to the Adams Street Marquee.

Nimlon was a servant of the Hartford community from for many many years.

He moved here from Georgia in 1944 and he passed in 1987.

No, he passed in 2006.

He was a member of the Upper Albany Merchants Association.

He opened up his grocery store Virginia Market in 1970 and it closed in 1987.

During that time he serviced the community, the Upper Albany community and surrounding communities with quality food and a place where people could just come and congregate and you know have a decent uh store to shop at.

He had a passion for the community.

He was um twice the man of the month, sponsored by Connecticut Mutual and WKD.

He was a devoted member of the first cathedral church.

He coached the Keeney Park midget and football leagues.

He was president of the Weaver High School Advisory Council who brought the first black principal to Weaver.

He mentored many children in the community, and we see those children today.

There are parents and grandparents, and they remember his contribution.

He had a love for the community.

He also contributed to a weekly program with the Black Panther program, um their free breakfast program.

Let's see.

He was a retiree um World War II veterans.

He was a drill sergeant, and his contributions to our community were whenever anyone needed food, he would give them food.

If there was a death in the community, he would pack up boxes of groceries to take to folks, and he just had a love for people.

He was great friends with a lot of the politicians in the area, Carrie Saxon Perry, Wilbur Smith, Thurman Milner, Doc Hurley, and he was great friends with Bud Mann.

I don't know if anyone remembers Bud Man, but he was a city treasurer back in the day.

He believed in the uplifting of community.

He believed in entrepreneurship.

His first lawyer was Sanford Cloud, who became a senator.

And let's see.

I'm trying to read through my notes because you said two minutes.

I have so much to say.

But I have forwarded to the council and the other members of the um this here.

So I'm hoping that you all will uh think very hard about adding my dad's name to the logo and continuing his work through memory.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Miss Adams, what's your uh address for the record?

One on a seven reading three part.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Jay Stan McCauley, Mr.

President.

Good evening, Mr.

President.

How are you?

Well, sir.

J.

Stan McCaulay, 77 Wadsworth Street, Hartford, Connecticut constituent.

I came down tonight to talk a little bit about uh the president of the Hartford Police Union, and um to try and uh set the record straight.

We do not have a problem with our police department.

There is no gap between the community and the police department.

The perceived gap is between the community and the Hartford Police Union.

The union represents its members.

The union's members are police officers who are employees of the city.

They have a collective bargaining agreement, which he represents and defends.

But we shouldn't get it twisted or confused as to who the police department works for.

They don't work for the police union, they work for the citizens of Hartford.

It is my contention that there is a war between the new guard and the old guard.

We saw the new guard operating with efficiency and effectiveness as they de-escalated an individual who was more than likely going to harm himself.

So they were protecting and serving the constituents that they have sworn an oath to serve.

The officer who arrived on the scene seemed to be in the framework of the old guard.

Now I saw on social media an explainer video that tried to shift the blame of what happened on Blue Hills Avenue to the three officers who had de-escalated, making the claim that somehow they didn't do their job, and he had to, in a moment's notice, arrive and do the job for them.

It is absurd and an offense.

We have the state of Connecticut with their police accountability legislation.

And now we have the last standing obstacle, which is the union contract.

On June 30th, the contract ends.

And so I am asking all the members of council who have to approve that contract and our mayor and the negotiating team to represent the constituents before they represent the police department.

What's in the best interest of Hartford residents?

We've elected you to represent our best interest.

It is in the contract that they have a defense for their behavior.

And it is up to you guys to aggressively make sure that you have the authority to hold them accountable relative to that contract that gives them broad leeway into how they conduct themselves.

My time is run out, but I will address all of you at a different time.

I thank you for your attention.

Thank you, sir.

Our next speaker is Bridget Prince.

Thank you.

Distinguished council members, Council President.

Film is slightly under the weather, so forgive me.

Bridget Prince, uh, 41 By World, East Hartford, and I am here to discuss the ongoing uh conflict with the uh Hartford Union um president, James Rakkowski.

I'm here to speak about accountability, public trust, and the choices Harvard must make right now as we face the Hartford Police Union's quote unquote war against the city.

Those words were the words of its president, James Rakowski, who was working now to overturn Mayor Arwelampalam's righteous decision to fire James Magnano.

We've been we've been here before.

In 2018, then Chief James Ravello made the decision to fire Detective Robert Lanza after Lanza's tirade of racial epithets during his DUI arrest, which was caught on video.

The facts were not in dispute.

Lanza's conduct was captured for all to see and was disseminated across Connecticut and nationally.

It violated department policy.

It undermined public trust.

It brought disgrace to the HD HPD, and Chief Ravella concluded that termination was necessary.

An arbitrator disagreed and ordered Lanza reinstated.

At that moment, the city faced a choice accept that outcome or stand up for a higher principle.

The city chose to fight.

And the Supreme Court ultimately vindicated that decision.

The court vacated the arbitrator's award and upheld Lance's termination, not because of politics, but because reinstating him violated public policy and the Centron Federal Consent Decree, which at that time required Harford police officers to refrain from exactly that kind of racial language.

The court was clear.

Some conduct is so egregious, so corrosive to public trust that nothing short of termination is appropriate.

That is the president, precedent, precedent.

That is the standard, and that brings us to today.

Fire Harford Police Officer, James Rakowski.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Our next speaker is Peter Little.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I wanted to expand and amplify on the comments that Stan McCauley and Brigitte Prince just delivered about the Hartford Police Union.

On March 27, Mayor Arulampalam made the decision to fire Officer James Magnano after he killed Stephen Jones.

Last week from media accounts, the Hartford Police Union filed eight grievances against the city for that action of termination.

So this is a battle shaping up that will go on for probably close to two years if the Robert Lanza case is any example.

And once again, like in Lanza, we're hearing the same old arguments from the police union.

The disciplinary processes buried in the union contract should should negate Hartford police and city leadership's ability to terminate officers who step over the line.

We're hearing from the police union that officers who flagrantly violate HPD policy, which let's not forget is Hartford City policy, its public policy.

I'm talking here, the General Order 5.06, which governs how officers are supposed to interact with people in mental health crisis.

A policy, as I have mentioned here before, that's still withheld by the Hartford Police from its website intentionally, that those officers should get a pass, and that the community should bend to the union's knee.

But this as Brigitte said, the Lanza case tells us exactly what happens when the city stands firm and why it must now stand firm.

As the union makes inflammatory remarks like dark times are coming to Hartford, like don't like parents, don't let your sons and daughters join the Hartford Police Department.

Like the mayor is devoid of manhood.

A direct quote from Union President James Rotkowski.

Public trust is not optional in Lands of the court recognize that certain conduct destroys the credibility of an officer and the legitimacy of the department itself.

Public policy overrides arbitration when necessary.

And we hope that precedent will stand through the Magnano case.

When the mayor took a deep breath and made the big decision to fire Magnano, certain questions remained.

And those questions are before the council, which has the responsibility and the authority to approve negotiations and outcomes when the contract is reset this January this June 30.

So the question before the council is complex, but much more consequential.

Will the council, like it did in 22, Kelly, you weren't here then, but the council in 2022, without naming names, uh the members of the Quality of Life and Public Safety Committee looked the other way when many of us came forward and said, This contract contains problematic provisions that need to be reformed.

What are you going to do about it?

The public safety and quality of life committee turned away, refused to take any community input, negotiated in secret.

And by the time the ink was dry, the community was completely shut out of the process.

Those provisions, those problematic provisions, are embedded in the contract.

We're going to write all the council members with our analysis of where they are.

It's a 145-page document.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for bedtime reading unless you need a sedative because it's very dry.

But we've gone through it, we've picked it apart, we've isolated those problematic contract provisions, and we're going to deliver them to the council members responsible for, we hope, reforming them.

So that's our action step.

We ask you to take this seriously, to read the contract, and hopefully through a process of consultation and iteration with all the parties at the table, including the police department, including the union, to take measures that will uh bring that contract into the modern age.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Michael Downs.

Evening, Council members.

My name is Michael Downs.

I live at 74 Rosemont Street in Hartford.

Um this evening, I'm going to address the Hartford Board of Education budget shortfall.

The premise is the state of Connecticut owes Hartford a lot of money into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The history of Hartford's problems stems back to two cases.

One is in the 70s was the Horton Vesco.

And that was uh dealing with the both dealt with the equality of education.

And uh this one dealt with the equality of the dispersion of the money.

And they thought was felt that the uh property tax was not enough in Hartford, and that's the state needed to help.

And then uh sometime later, the chef v.

O'Neal, which dealt with also the equality of the students, the racial equality and uh socioeconomic equality.

And uh it was uh the this these two uh decisions angered many people as I recall them.

I mean I was uh I was here, I've been hard for over 50 years, and uh I've lived in the Hartford area all my life, and I remember these cases.

And I remember people talking and what they say in the suburbs, people were very angry.

And uh the city officials were convinced that to bring in a uh private company to try to run the school system.

Turns out the private company was uh fraudulent.

Thank thank you thanks to uh John O'Connell, former council member, and uh so the anger carried on, and they're saying, well, the the state was brought in to pay for the Hartford public schools, so bring the state in to run the school system.

Well, they didn't do a very good job, but they did end up bringing people in to strip the Hartford Public Schools.

They took the uh they said, Well, if you're gonna have Chef V.

O'Neal and Horton v Hart v.

Uh Mesco, then we're gonna they took the uh what they say, the cream off the the cream of the crop off the uh of the school system, and they went from uh it took them a while, but they went from 25,000 students down to 15,000 students, and they say that's they left us with a bare bones.

We can educate the bare bones, but we need the money.

And you can't take away enrichment courses, courses that lead to uh gainful employment, such as vocational technical education, uh family consumer science, um, then uh courses like art, music, uh, special education, uh uh physical education, um, uh enrichment activities, after school activities, sports, and they did.

They they eliminated all these all these things to Hartford Public Schools, and uh slowly they're bringing some of them back, but not like it was.

There's no school, no high school bands.

So the that's that's out.

We used to have praise where Buckley had a band, Hartford I had a band, and Weaver had a band.

They were good bands.

Not anymore.

And um it's this fault of the state.

They're bringing in people to strip the school system and strip these courses and these activities out of our school system.

So the state took it away, the state should come back in and replace it, and that's gonna cost hundreds of thousands, hundreds of millions of dollars.

And that's uh my basically my my premise is that uh these courses are gonna cost money to come back.

It's not easy to hire uh hire special education teachers after you laid off most of them, and uh because then they don't want to come back.

They say, well, it's hard.

There's no there's no job security in Hartford.

So that uh that is what that is the premise of Hartford of my my uh state my early statement is that uh the state owes Hartford a lot of money for their education system.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next next speaker is Siobhan Hamilton Burgess.

Hi, good evening.

Um council members.

My name is Siobhan Hamilton Burgess.

Uh, address is 35 Thomason Street, Hartford.

Um today I am here to advocate uh for sustained and expanded uh implementation of school-based health education.

Um while there is a framework guided by the state, uh implementation varies widely, not only across districts, but across schools.

Uh this inconsistency results in uneven access to quality, comprehensive health education, particularly for students in under-resourced communities like ours that experience tons of disparities as adults, right?

A framework alone is not sufficient.

We need intentional support to ensure equity and accountability in how health education is delivered in a consistent way to measure impact.

Uh, one thing I would note is as part of this framework, there is also a request for evaluation, right?

And that also isn't happening.

So we don't know how good our education is because there's no way to really measure.

Additionally, uh, we must recognize that health education is often is often based on best practices without sufficient incorporation of environmental factors, such as access to healthy foods, safe spaces for physical activity, and community-based health resources, which directly shape a person's ability to apply what they learn.

If we are teaching nutrition, but students live in food deserts or promoting physical activity without safe recreational spaces, we create a disconnect between knowledge and reality.

Health education must be practical, place-based, and aligned with what is actually accessible in students' daily lives.

School-based health education is a critical prevention strategy.

It improves academic outcomes, reduces risk behaviors, and supports long-term well-being.

But to be effective, it must be adequately resourced, culturally responsive, and grounded in community context.

Today I am formally again requesting a meeting with both committees to uh one receive support and also to explore uh from your capacity, right?

Um, how we could uh understand solutions.

We have talked to the superintendent in Board of Education and also have gotten their support, right?

And so really want to have a holistic view on how we could come up with some solutions.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Our uh next and last speaker is City Treasurer Carmen Sierra.

Thank you.

Good evening, everyone.

Um the community, pensioners, council, leadership.

Thank you for this opportunity.

Tonight, there are two, there are two resolution, uh two strong ladies who are uh ready to serve on two important commissions.

One is the pension commission, and that is Michelle Perrata, appointed or recommended by the mayor.

And the other one is Kate Torres, who is uh for the Internal Audit Commission appointed by me, the treasurer.

Very strong ladies, good qualification from governance management, community business, leadership, ethically, strong leaders ready to serve.

And my understanding there might be a jeopardy tonight of them not being appointed uh when they were already uh approved by the ONBG uh committee that I participated.

And like to bring to the attention a very critical issue why they're not, they might not uh for clarification.

The chairman at this point of the pension commission by the name of Joshua Goffrey, he will be replaced by Michelle Parada.

And I know that he's upset because this is uh it's supposed to be tonight that you're supposed to vote on her.

And I know he's upset, so he wrote a letter that I just was informed tonight as a treasure.

This letter should have been given to me because people do write stuff, and sometimes most of the time, these stuff's not true.

Gives an opportunity for the treasure to respond, especially when the individual criticize the office by staff, my consultant, on the due diligence of our work when we have everything documented by policies and procedures, and we vet everything through our consultants as well, and the commissioner themselves vote for these procedures as well as the work that we do.

And give you a couple of examples because it's important.

On the pension, um the MRF, which is our pension is over 1.2 billion dollars.

And we follow our pension policy, which requires the rate of return of 6.75.

If you notice, we sent a lot of our press releases showing that we have overpassed the rate of return by nine or ten percent.

So, right there, that would tell you how the due diligence of work that we are committed in our office based on staff as well as consultant and our own commissioner, including himself.

So, you know, I would appreciate this letter should have given to us ahead of time to respond to some of the stuff which is inaccurate, and I will legally, and two, I hope that you take this very seriously because if you want changes, you have two strong ladies to come in and do the work.

If you want some new eyes and be able to give you some new perspective, then these two ladies will be the one to choose.

And I hope that y'all make the right decision tonight and vote on them.

Thank you.

Thank you.