Hartford city councilman argues the body made a misstep when it approved new food truck policy
A Hartford city councilman was concerned the body made a procedural error last week when it prevented further discussion of changes he wanted to make to the city’s new regulations on food trucks.
The potential mistake Councilman Joshua Michtom raised was one of several that occurred during the special meeting on June 7.
Michtom, who works as a public defender, pressed the body rescind the updated ordinance at Monday’s meeting in order to vote on it properly. By doing so, Michtom, a Working Families Party member, said the city prevented being on shaky legal ground when it tries to enforce the new street vendor policy.
“When a municipal body approves an ordinance without following its own rules, enforcement of the ordinance may expose the city to a lawsuit,” Michtom wrote in an email.
The city council approved the food truck policy earlier this month by a 6-2 vote, with Wildaliz Bermudez and Michtom voting no.
The problem came after the council had spent more than 50 minutes debating an update to Hartford’s food truck ordinance. Council President Maly Rosado called on two councilmembers to speak in the order they raised their hands, James “Jimmy” Sanchez Jr., a Democrat, and Michtom.
Sanchez made a motion to “call the question,” meaning he sought to end any further discussion and immediately put the update to a vote. Majority Leader Thomas “TJ” Clarke II gave him a second.
At least two thirds of the council, or six out of the eight members present, must agree to end debate, under Robert’s Rules of Order, the parliamentary procedures most public bodies use for their meetings.
However, only five voted ‘yes’: Democrats Sanchez, Clarke, Rosado and Nick Lebron and Hartford Party member John Gale. When the body continued as if the motion had passed, Michtom spoke up to argue that it had actually failed.
Rosado deferred to Rifkin, who stated that only a majority of members are needed for a vote to end debate.
On Monday, Rifkin clarified that Hartford city council’s longtime practice has been to accept majority votes rather than requiring 2/3.
There was another hiccup during last week’s special meeting: Lebron asked the clerk to change his vote to a ‘no,’ which would have brought the tally down to 4-4, and the debate would have continued.
When Clarke asked Rifkin for guidance on whether Lebron was allowed to change his vote, Rifkin said he was not.
During Monday’s council meeting, the council agreed to reconsider the updated food truck ordinance but voted down Michtom’s suggestion that it should last only one year. He’d argued that council should be forced to evaluate how effective the ordinance was.
Multiple council members said they planned to do just that after this summer.
Rebecca Lurye can be reached at rlurye@courant.com.
