The New Britain Common Council held its regular meeting on Wednesday, August 14, 2024, at 7:05 PM in Council Chambers, City Hall. Public participation began at 7:07 PM and concluded at 8:08 PM; the regular meeting resumed at 8:39 PM and adjourned at 9:41 PM. The meeting featured extensive public comment on Resolution No. 5 (ceasefire in Gaza and other conflicts), a substituted resolution that ultimately passed, along with discussions on traffic safety, park security, and numerous routine consent agenda items.
Just a few short minutes. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'd like to call to order the public participation of this common council meeting. The time now is seven oh seven. Just a friendly reminder, we do have a three-minute speaking limit. The time will be on the clock when you approach the podium. Please remember to state your name and address for the record. Um the proposed solution is to add a sign under the Martha Hart's sign that says park closed dust to dawn. That's laughable. People ignore stop signs in broad daylight, and you think cars coming into the Martha Hart Park at 2 a.m. are going to stop and say, oh, we can't come in and leave. It's just it's not going to happen. I don't think that this was a complete study. I suggest maybe sending letters to people in the surrounding area, giving them uh a means to um email or call and express anecdotal evidence of of activity in that park, which is disruptive to the to the neighborhood, damaging to the park, and truly is a dangerous situation. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you, Ms. Cheney. Up next I have Liz A. Aaron, thank you. Thank you. My name is Liz Aronson. I live at 424 Commonwealth Avenue in New Britain, and I want to speak on resolution number five about the ceasefire in Gaza. Um it's very important to me as a Jew, daughter of a rabbi, I care very much about the lives of the Israelis and the Palestinians. And too many people have died. And people might say, well, this is New Britain, this is a city. We have nothing to do with this. We can't make Netanyahu stop the war or stop the bombing, stop the killing. Um I think it's important to make a statement from a local group of people who all pay federal taxes and it's our tax money. And there was just another 20 billion dollars worth of weapons sent to fuel that war. And it seems to me that if, as Americans, not just residents of New Britain, but as Americans, we need to say no to this. We need to say no. And as Jews say, not in our name. And that's really all I want to say. Thank you very much. Thank you, Ms. Aronson. Our next speaker is Andrew Miller. I rise to speak for Ukraine. My name is Andrew Miller. I live at 428 Lewis Road in the city. Actually, I speak uh to the ceasefire resolution, which is very one-sided. I am for the ceasefire. I am not for that piece of garbage because it is so one-sided. The resolution is an obvious call for the destruction of the State of Israel, not for a ceasefire. It is performative only. Nothing we do here today will change what's happening there. We have a federal system. We have an election coming up. You have a way of making and expressing your opinion directly to your elected officials in Washington, D.C., where these matters are dealt with. I only have three minutes.