This concluding session of the 31st Board of Representatives featured the final adoption of three major ordinances concerning animal welfare, urban forestry, and environmental health, alongside unanimous resolutions honoring retiring officials Representative Annie Somerville and journalist Angela Corella. The meeting was marked by extended deliberation on public safety and legal risks, emotional tributes to long-serving members, and a roll call vote confirming a 35-1-1 outcome on the pet store regulation.
LR 31.072: Regulation of Dog and Cat Sales (Puppy Mill Ban):
LR 31.106: Comprehensive Tree Preservation Program:
LR 31.100: Transition to Electric Landscaping Equipment:
Okay. All right. We are back. So members that have left the floor may want to return. Representative Camparelli, you have the floor. All right. I'm gonna be I'm gonna be brief. Um I think that the risk is worth the reward. Uh I started with this board on behalf of animal rights. I came to speak to the board to protect deer in in my neighborhood. Um I will fall on this sword every day. I think it's worth the risk. I think the mayor is not going to veto it because I do think she's a caring person, and I think she cares about animals. Uh the law is a living, breathing document. It's not stagnant. It changes all the time because people go up against the law and they challenge it. And animals are worth us challenging the law. Um we have heard from the public. I think over 170 emails have been received, and the public is willing to go to bat for this. These are taxpayers in that live in Stanford, they're willing to put their money where their mouth is. Uh and and I think that the the risk of this getting challenged in court is so low because of the political uh fallout from this that it's not even worth speaking of. I will be voting wholeheartedly in favor of this, and I hope all of you will too. Thank you. Uh Representative Williams. Thank you, Chair. So um I feel like there's a parallel between what we may be seeing with out-of-state breeders, illegal breeders or puppy mills doing supposedly in Connecticut. And what we're seeing with out-of-state can redemptions, bottle and can redemptions coming to Connecticut. Um if you stand in line at Shopi to bring your bag, you're seeing people from New York bringing in their bottles and cans because they can get 10 cents here. They could do it legally here instead of five cents in New York or in other states. Um given that the zoning regulations still presents a loophole that would allow uh puppy mills to still be raised and permitted in certain regions of the city. Given the willingness of people to travel for profit, I feel like we could still see puppy mills set up here, the same way we do with people bringing bottles and cans across the border. And um I appreciate Ashley's work on this, Karen's work on this, or representative Campo and Camp Repli. And I will be supporting this as well. Thank you. Uh thank you. Representative Goldberg. Uh I'll pass to the moment. Thank you. Representative Weinberg. So I I understand how the vote's going, and I and I'm not surprised and not even entirely disappointed. Uh I do want to point out that I I think that I think that some of the speakers have presented a false choice, um, which is to either pass this ordinance or just continue with the current situation. I don't believe that's the choice. Um there are things that we can be doing that will bear results. I know they will bear results because we have done them in the past and they have borne results. We picketed the store on Long Ridge Road, and they are closed. They are out of business because nobody wants to take their kids across a picket line to go, you know, to go look at a possible pet. We can pick it uh any remaining store in Stanford. Um I'll be the first to join that picket line. My picketing days go back to the great boycotts of the late 60s, which perhaps some of you remember. Um we can close down the any stores that any stores, I believe there's only one remaining in Stanford, but I could be mistaken.