Common Council

BIENNIAL MEETING OF THE COMMON COUNCIL MIDDLETOWN HIGH SCHOOL SANTO FRAGILIO PERFORMING ARTS CENTER MIDDLETOWN, CT TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2019 7:00 PM MINUTES The Biennial Meeting the Common Council of the City of Middletown was held in the Santo Fragilio Performing Arts Center, Middletown High, Middletown, Connecticut on Tuesday, November 12, 2019 at 7:00 PM. Present: Hon. Daniel Drew, Mayor; Hon. Benjamin D. Florsheim, Mayor; Councilwoman Mary Bartolotta; Councilman Carl Chisem; Councilman W. Vance Cotten; Councilman Sebastian Giuliano; Councilwoman-elect Jeanette Blackwell; Councilwoman-elect Meghan Carta; Councilman-elect Grady Faulkner, Jr.; Councilman-elect Darnell Ford; Councilman-elect Edward Ford, Jr.; Councilman-elect Anthony Gennaro, Sr.; Councilman-elect Vincent Loffredo; Councilman-elect Edward McKeon; Councilman- elect Eugene Nocera; Councilman-elect Philip Pessina; Councilwoman-elect Linda Salafia; Corporation Council-designee Daniel Ryan, Esq; City Treasurer-elect Steven Kovach; Board of Education Member-elect Anita Dempsey-White; Board of Education member-elect Deborah Cain; Board of Education member-elect Justin Taylor; Board of Education Member-elect Delita Rose-Daniels; Board of Education member-elect Dina Ford; Planning & Zoning Commission Member-elect Catherine Johnson; Planning & Zoning Commission Member-elect Thomas J. Pattacina; Planning & Zoning Commission-Member-elect Richard Pelletier’ Planning & Zoning Commission Alternate member-elect Kellin Atherton; Planning & Zoning Commission Member-elect Shanay Fulton; Board of Assessment Appeals Member-elect Leslie Spatola; and Clerk of the Common Council Linda Reed Absent Councilmember Robert Blanchard; Councilmember Carl Chisem; Councilmember Gerald Daley; Councilmember Deborah Kleckowski; Councilmember Robert Santangelo; Board of Assessment Appeal member-elect Kathryn Adams; and Board of Assessment Appeals member- Elect John Kilian. Also Present The Honorable Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz; Probate Judge Joseph Marino; Middletown Poet Laureate Cheryl Anne Hale; Pastor Mahogany Thomas, First Church; Rev, Moses Harvill, Pastor – Cross Street AME Zion Church; Fire Chief Robert Kronenberger; Police Lt. Paul Maturo and the Middletown Police Department Honor Guard; Fire Batallion Chief Michael Agogliati and the Middletown Fire Department Honor Guard; Superintendent of School Dr, Michael Conner, Ed.D.; Marco Gaylord, Chief of School Operations & Communications; Colleen Weiner, Middletown High School principal; Robert Mounts Middletown High School Custodial Director; Jeffrey Turro, Middleton High School Building Superintendent; Middletown High School Advanced Choir; Middletown High School Choir Director Stephanie Zak; and approximately 200 members of the public. Presentation of the Flag The Presentation of Colors is made by the Middletown Police Department Honor Guard and the Middletown Fire Department Honor Guard. Pledge of Allegiance Evan Davis, Middletown High School student representative to the Middletown Board of Education, leads the public in the Pledge of Allegiance. National Anthem Middletown High School Advanced Choir sings the National Anthem and Harmonia Mundi under the direction of Middletown High School Choir Director Stephanie Zak. Call to Order Mayor Daniel Drew calls the Biennial Meeting of the Common Council to order at 6:05 PM. The Clerk of the Common Council reads the Call of the Meeting. Mayor Drew declares the call a legal call and the meeting a legal meeting. Mayor-Elect Chief of Police William McKenna escorts Mayor-elect Benjamin D. Florsheim to his seat.  NOVEMBER 12, 2019 COMMON COUNCIL – BIENNIAL MEETING Page 2 Invocation Rev. Mahogany Thomas, Minister of Youth and Families at First Church, delivers the invocation Poem Cheryl Anne Hale, Poet Laureate for the City of Middletown, states that she has an original poem, An Eagle’s Eye View, which she has written for this occasion. It is inspired by a quote: “You cannot be separated by interest or divided in purpose. We stand together until the end.” The quote is from President Woodrow Wilson, who also taught at Wesleyan University. She recites her poem. Oath of Office for Mayor-Elect The Honorable Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz is invited to the podium. Remarks by Lt. Gov. Bysiewicz Good evening, Middletown. It is such an honor to be here on this wonderful evening. It is so appropriate that we gather for this ceremony a day after celebrating Veterans’ Day because those, who served our country, have given us this very special life, which we enjoy as Americans and that is to determine our future through choosing our leaders in elections. She asks all United States military veterans, who are here, to stand so we can recognize them and say thank you to them for their service. Ladies and gentlemen. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your service. You make our beautiful City proud. Thank you to those who ran in the primary and in the general election. It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there and run for office. A round of applause for everyone, who ran. Thank you to our outgoing Couniclpeople. Please stand so we can say thank you to you. Thank you to all who have gathered on this stage and are willing to share their time and their talents and their expertise to make our community even better. We are very thankful for your willingness to serve. Finally, thank you to a very special group of people, who make this impressive group possible, who have supported our office holders and that is the spouses and the family members of those getting sworn in today. If you are a family member or a spouse of one of our newly elected official, please stand so we can say thank you to you. And ladies and gentlemen, we are thanking you in advance for your support, your patience, your encouragement, and your sacrifice. It is so important. Thank you for sharing your family members in public service. This evening we are making history in a number of ways. One of the reasons that I love living in Middletown is that we are diverse and vibrant community and take a look at those, who are taking office today and who represent the best about our beautiful City. We have with us, and I have the honor of swearing in, the youngest Mayor in the history of Middletown. Middletown is a place that has been home to many young Mayors, like Mayor Drew, Mayor Michael Cubetta, Mayor Paul Ginonfreddo, and others. We are very excited about that. We also make history today as out first African-American Councilwoman will be sworn in: here is Jeannette White Blackwell. I am so glad we have the opportunity to celebrate that, and we are not done. We are also celebrating the first LGBTQ elected Treasure, Steven Kovach. I know that this team so going to do really, really well and Governor Lamont and I, who have the most diverse team in the history of this State with 50 percent women cabinet members and 40 percent people of color in our cabinet We are so proud of our team. We are looking forward to working with this team. So before I have the great pleasure of swearing Ben Florsheim in, let me say how I know that he will be a very effective smart, competent leader. He is a listener, someone, who collaborates. He is someone, who, for the past 5 years in Senator Murphy’s office, has worked with mayors from across the state. Yes, Senator Murphy was a great mentor and I know that some of his staff is in the audience. I have watched Ben work with community leaders, with other members of Congress, with mayors and First Selectmen form across the State and legislators. He is going to hit the ground running because he is someone, who has worked with constituents, who has collaborated with other leaders, and he will do a tremendous job. He loves this City and Middletown clearly loves him back.  NOVEMBER 12, 2019 COMMON COUNCIL – BIENNIAL MEETING Page 3 And so, with that, Mayor-elect, Chief would you please bring him forward as we have a protocol here. Police Chief Escort Police Chief McKenna escorts Mayor Benjamin D. Florsheim to the podium to take the oath of office. Oath of Office The Honorable Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz administers the Oath of Office to Mayor Benjamin D. Florsheim. She administers the following oath: You, BENJAMIN D. FLORSHEIM, having been elected as Mayor of the City of Middletown, for a term to November 14, 2023, do solemnly swear that you will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Connecticut, so long as you continue a citizen thereof; and that you will faithfully discharge, according to law, the duties of the office of Mayor to the best of your abilities; so help you God. Mayor Florsheim swears to do so. Remarks by Mayor Drew Congratulations, Mayor Florsheim. Congratulations to all of the soon-to-be sworn in elected officials. On a personal note, I want to thank you all for affording me the opportunity to serve this community for the past 8 years. Aside from being a husband and a father it has bene the greatest honor of my life. Every day presented a challenge. Every day I learned something new, most of the time, many new things. Every day, I got to work with fantastic people. I want to thank, as the Lieutenant Governor did, the outgoing Couniclpeople with whom I have worked, and debated, and seeing them bleed and sweat on behalf of the people of Middletown. What I have observed about each of them, no matter how many battles we have been through, no matter which issues we have debated, is that they each love this community with all of their heart. And that is true of all of our newly elected officials as well. At a time of political rancor, nationally and even internationally, it is lost often on us that most of the people out there are doing their best in the best way that they know how. And, sometimes, the best thing that we can do back is to grant them (inaudible). In particular, it is often times the decisions that they make will be done with the knowledge that (inaudible) for the public because they see things (inaudible) and I only know that (inaudible) So, all of you, and in particular Mayor Florsheim, whom I have known for 8 years and I first met when he was working as a volunteer on my campaign on 2011, I wish you the very best. I wish you all the success in the world in governing this community and I have no doubt that it is in good hands and its best days are ahead of it. Thank you all and may God bless you and the City of Middletown. Mayor, the podium is yours. Thank you for your service to the community. Police Chief Escort Mayor Florsheim thanks Mayor Drew for his kind words. He ask Police Chief William McKenna to escort Mayor Drew from the stage. Oaths of Office to Member-Elect Common Council Mayor Florsheim asks the Police and Fire Honor Guard to escort, individually, the Common Council Members-Elect to the rostrum and administers the Oath of Office to each member. He administers the following oath of office to EUGENE P. NOCERA MEGHAN R. CARTA JEANETTE BLACKWELL VINCENT J. LOFFREDO DARNELL FORD EDWARD McKEON GRADY L. FAULKNER, JR. PHILIP J. PESSINA ANTHONY S. GENNARO, SR. EDWARD FORD, JR. LINDA SALAFIA You, ___________________, having been elected as a member of the Common Council of the City of Middletown, for a term to November 14, 2023, do swear that you will faithfully discharge the duties of said office according to your best skill and judgement, so help you God.  NOVEMBER 12, 2019 COMMON COUNCIL – BIENNIAL MEETING Page 4 or, alternatively, You, having been elected as a member of the Common Council of the City of Middletown, do solemnly and sincerely affirm and declare that you will faithfully discharge the duties of that office according to your best skill and judgment, upon the pains and penalties of perjury. Each member so swears. Corporation Counsel Mayor Florsheim asks the Police and Fire Honor Guard to escort the Corporation Counsel to the rostrum and administers the Oath of Office to him. He administers the following oath of office to Daniel Ryan, Esq.: You, DANIEL RYAN, having been appointed as Corporation Counsel for the City of Middletown, for a term to November 14, 2023, do swear that you will faithfully discharge the duties of said office according to your best skill and judgement, so help you God. Corporation Counsel Daniel Ryan, Esq. so swears. City Treasurer Mayor Florsheim asks the Police and Fire Honor Guard to escort the City Treasurer-elect to the rostrum and administers the Oath of Office to him. He administers the following oath of office to Steven Kovach.: You, STEVEN KOVACH, having been elected as Treasurer of the City of Middletown, for a term to November 14, 2023, do swear that you will faithfully discharge the duties of said office according to your best skill and judgement, so help you God. City Treasurer Steve Kovach so swears. Board of Education Mayor Florsheim asks the Police and Fire Honor Guard to escort, individually, the Board of Education Members-Elect to the rostrum and administers the Oath of Office to each member. He administers the following oath of office to: ANITA S. DEMPSEY-WHITE DEBORAH CAIN JUSTIN TAYLOR DELITA ROSE-DANIELS DINA FORD You, _____________, having been elected as a member of the Board of Education of the City of Middletown, for a term to November 14, 2023, do swear that you will faithfully discharge the duties of said office according to your best skill and judgement, so help you God. Each member so swears. Planning & Zoning Commission Regular Members Mayor Florsheim asks the Police and Fire Honor Guard to escort, individually, the Planning & Zoning Commission Members-Elect to the rostrum and administers the Oath of Office to each member. He administers the following oath of office to: CATHERINE JOHNSON THOMAS J. PATTAVINA RICHARD PELLETIER You, _____________, having been elected as a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Middletown, for a term to November 14, 2023, do swear that you will faithfully discharge the duties of said office according to your best skill and judgement, so help you God. Each member so swears. Alternate Members Mayor Florsheim asks the Police and Fire Honor Guard to escort, individually, the Planning & Zoning Commission Alternate Members-Elect to the rostrum and administers the Oath of Office to each member. He administers the following oath of office to: KELLIN ATHERTON SHANAY N. FULTON You, _________________, having been elected as an alternate member of the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Middletown, for a term to November 14, 2023, do swear that you will faithfully discharge the duties of said office according to your best skill and judgement, so help you God.  NOVEMBER 12, 2019 COMMON COUNCIL – BIENNIAL MEETING Page 5 Each member so swears. Board of Assessment Appeals Mayor Florsheim asks the Police and Fire Honor Guard to escort, individually, the Board of Assessment Appeals Member-elect to the rostrum and administers the Oath of Office to each member. He administers the following oath of office to Kathryn Adams. You, KATHRYN ADAMS, having been elected as a member of the Board of Assessment Appeals of the City of Middletown, for a term to November 14, 2023, do swear that you will faithfully discharge the duties of said office according to your best skill and judgement, so help you God. Board of Assessment Appeals Member Kathryn Adams so swears. Inaugural Address Mayor Benjamin Florsheim delivers his inaugural address. Lieutenant Governor Bysiewicz, Senator Lesser, Senator Abrams, Representative Serra, Representative Phipps, Mayor Drew, Mayor Giuliano, Mayor Thornton, Mayor Holzberg, Mayor Cubeta, Mayor Gionfriddo, members of the Common Council and other new and outgoing elected officials, members of the clergy, and honored guests: Welcome. And thank you for being here. I want to speak for a few minutes about the beloved community. The beloved community is not a place, but a concept. It is also not an abstract concept or a hypothetical one, but a practical one, grounded in the everyday, and made possible by regular people. It is, in the words of the man who popularized it, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, the idea of a community that values love above all else. Not romantic love, not platonic love, but humanitarian love: love that, quote, “does not begin by discriminating between worthy and unworthy people, but begins by loving others for their sakes… that makes no distinction between a friend and enemy, but is directed toward both… love that seeks to preserve and create community.” Evenings like this one are an invitation to reflect on what kind of community we are, and what kind of community we want to be. It occurs to me that the type of love that Dr. King was describing is what brings us all here tonight. It is that love, in its tangible form, that enables and indeed compels us to serve our city and our neighbors and our fellow human beings, even and perhaps especially the ones who we don’t personally know, but with whom we share this love all the same. It is that love, in its intangible form, that makes this place Middletown and nowhere else-- that distinguishes us from the rest of the world, that compels us as a city to be the best possible version of exactly who we are. If Middletown is the embodiment of the beloved community, then our work over the next four years and over the next generation is the work of living up to that concept, day by day, week by week, year by year. It is because the opportunity that this work represents that I ran for mayor, and it is because of the obligation to do this work that it will be the guiding principle of my administration. To quote again from Dr. King: “I do not think of political power as an end. Neither do I think of economic power as an end. They are ingredients in the objective that we seek in life. And I think that end of that objective is a truly brotherly society, the creation of the beloved community.” This is a practical question as much as it is a spiritual or a philosophical one. Because the achievement of this kind of love does not happen through ceremony, or rhetoric, or revelation. It happens through healthcare. It happens through housing. It happens through clean streets and safe neighborhoods. It happens in classrooms, and on construction sites; in boardrooms and in soup kitchens; in work and in play. It happens when we recognize that there is nothing wrong in our city that cannot be fixed by what is right in our city-- not just recognize it, but embrace it. And it happens when we confront the great moral and political crises of our generation-- the crisis of climate change; the crisis of racism; the crisis of inequality-- not with despair and cynicism, nor with naive optimism that the solutions will come from elsewhere, but with courage and action and love-- right now, and right here, in this beloved community. Everyone’s Middletown story is different. Mine began not quite ten years ago as a student at Wesleyan University. As many of you know, I lived and spent time in a variety of places as a child and as a young adult. I was born in Illinois and raised in Utah. I visited family in Florida and Maryland and New Mexico; I’ve spent summers in Michigan and Rhode Island and Washington D.C. I graduated from high school in Wisconsin, and still visit family there- - and I’m glad to have my dad, Paul Florsheim, visiting from there tonight. Coming off of all that as I entered adulthood, I made it my mission to get to know the community that I was going to call home for at least those four years of college. Along the way, I fell in love. I fell in love with a person, and I fell in love with a community. I don’t know if there was a precise moment that I decided Middletown would be the place I would stay. But as I found myself spending more and more time working to bridge the gap  NOVEMBER 12, 2019 COMMON COUNCIL – BIENNIAL MEETING Page 6 between the Wesleyan campus and other parts of the city, and then later as I spent long days crisscrossing the state for work, being here-- and coming back here-- gave me more and more the sense that this was the place I wanted to be. I imagine I am not alone in feeling that I didn’t quite choose Middletown as much as Middletown chose me-- by welcoming me, nurturing me, and offering the promise of the beloved community. Those of us on this stage tonight are inheriting a city that in many ways is on the right track. It is therefore our opportunity and our obligation to continue that progress. Our economy is strong, and our finances stable, but we must do more to make Middletown affordable for seniors, for young people, and for working families. Our Main Street is full of life, but we must plan thoughtfully and act creatively to make it more so, and to make downtown a livable neighborhood in addition to a destination. Our schools are making tremendous progress, but we must ensure that it is sustainable progress, and that we bring teachers and families to the table and achieve higher goals than ever before. Our riverfront-- the reason we exist as a community today-- is on the brink of reinvention. And this time, we have to get it right. Not something that looks good for all of us four years from now, but something that is best for the next generation, and the generation after that. I know these are things we can achieve together. Because we have already achieved a great deal. To everyone who has made tonight possible: there is no way to adequately express my gratitude while also allowing everyone here to leave at a reasonable hour. But suffice it to say that I stand here before you knowing that I am a very lucky man. I had the best campaign staff in the state of Connecticut, and now the best mayoral staff. I am inheriting an office handled ably for the last eight years by Dan Drew, and for the previous six by Sebastian Giuliano, and I am grateful for the example set by both. I have the most supportive and loving family anyone could ask for-- some of whom are here and some of whom are watching from afar. Even though he’s in session down in Washington today, I have to give a shoutout to the best boss and mentor anyone in this field could ask for, and the best U.S. senator and partner that anyone in this job could ask for, Chris Murphy, and the incredible staff who I’ve had the pleasure of working with over the past five years. To Gabriela De Golia, who through thick and thin has been best supporter that I could ask for. And of course, to the voters of Middletown, and to the people who believed in our vision and helped make it happen from day one-- some of them, in fact, who believed in it before I even believed it was possible. You know who you are, and I hope you know how truly grateful and humbled I am. To close out tonight, I want to return to that sentiment from Dr. King, the one that I will remind myself of every day in this office, that I encourage my fellow newly elected and reelected officials to remind themselves of, and that I hope you will hold us to: that political power is not the ends, it is only the means. It is an ingredient, a tool, by which we can achieve the real change that we seek. It can also be the means of our undoing. Likewise, we as elected officials are not the changemakers ourselves-- we are the conduits, the vessels, for the actual work, the everyday organizing, and the dreams and aspirations of those who put us here, trusting that we would do our best to make a positive difference in their lives. To misunderstand or to forget that would surely be our undoing. So as we take this opportunity to revisit and reflect upon who we are and who we want to be, let me ask of my fellow elected officials and those gathered in the audience that we can be a beloved community. That we can achieve higher heights of justice and progress and prosperity when we treat these things not as lofty goals but as the everyday business of being part of such a beloved community. I am honored and humbled beyond words by the faith you have placed in me, and I ask of you all tonight, just as I know you expect of me, that we help each other live up to that faith. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the City of Middletown. Benediction Rev. Moses Harvill, pastor of Cross Street AME Zion Church, delivers the benediction. Advanced Choir The Middletown High School Advanced Choir sings God Bless America under the Direction of Choir Director Stephanie Zak. Adjournment The Mayor states that there is no further business. There being no further business, Councilman Eugene Nocera moves to adjourn. Councilman Philip seconds the motion. There being no discussion, the Chair calls for a vote. The motion is unanimously approved with 11 aye votes (Councilmembers Blackwell, Carta, Faulkner, D. Ford, E. Ford, Gennaro, Loffredo, McKeon, Nocera, Pessina, and Salafia). The Mayor declares that the meeting is adjourned at 8:05 PM.  NOVEMBER 12, 2019 COMMON COUNCIL – BIENNIAL MEETING Page 7 ATTEST: LINDA S.K. REED, COMMON COUNCIL CLERK K: review/ minutes/ 19 November 12 -- biennial meeting – 14 November 2019