Hartford councilors abstain from vote on charter revision commissioner: Transparency issue ‘needs to be addressed’

Three city councilors took the unusual position of abstaining from voting on a replacement to Hartford’s Charter Revision Commission on Monday evening following a pointed discussion on concerns about the commission’s transparency.

Democratic Majority Leader Thomas J. Clarke, and Councilman Josh Michtom and Councilwoman Tiana Hercules, both of the Working Families Party, abstained from voting on the motion to appoint Peter Yazbak as a replacement to former commissioner Alex Aponte, who resigned after he moved out of Hartford.

Clarke, who made the motion to appoint Yazbak, subsequently said he was abstaining from the vote as there were concerns about transparency surrounding how decisions were made on the charter revision commission, including the rejection of the creation of a police commission that would provide greater oversight over the city police department.

“It has nothing to do with Mr. Peter Yazbak replacing former councilman and majority leader Alex Aponte,” Clarke said. “I think Mr. Yazbak is a phenomenal person and he would do a very good job in replacing former councilman Alex Aponte. But I believe the current members of the commission need to do some cleaning up and need to do some reconciliation and to have some further discussion before an appointment is made to fill the vacancy of this position. Because I think the will of the people should be heard and there needs to be a little bit more consideration regarding the creation of a police commission. Other cities in our state do have this type of a model. I think it is something that should be heavily considered.”

Last month, six members of the 14-member charter revision commission stepped aside, but did not officially resign, following allegations of side meetings between other members of the commission and City Hall officials to prevent certain measures from being adopted, including the police commission. Four of the six who stepped aside — Kamora Herrington, Ken Kennedy, Eon Smith and Vicki Gallon-Clark — are the only Black members. The other two members who stepped aside are Bruce Rubenstein and Melvin Medina.

Councilman John Gale, who is the only member of the city council who is also a member of the commission, criticized Clarke for abstaining, as well as the six who stepped aside.

“First, let’s just be clear: The only item before council tonight is the appointment of somebody to replace a commissioner who has resigned,” Gale said. “Frankly I am not really understanding the majority leader’s comments. For the commission to do its business, it seems important that it is fully staffed. That’s all we’re doing tonight. So in the first place I don’t really understand why one would abstain from voting when if you’re desirous of having the commission be an effective commission, it should have the full complement.”

Gale said the charter revision commission had been completely transparent, and, instead, called the members’ stepping aside a “somewhat of a peevish” maneuver.

“I don’t think that’s how a deliberative body should be operative,” Gale said. “I can only imagine the tensions that were involved between the states in 1787, when the Constitutional Convention was meeting in Philadelphia. You had slaveholders and anti-slaveholders and they were trying to come together and work on a document that everyone could agree on. They had bitter fights. But nobody walked out. …

“It is your prerogative to walk out, but I don’t think it advances your cause. Stay and argue your point. We’ve been meeting for a year now. Everyone has had a year to argue their points. The fact that they didn’t carry the day, that’s democracy. You have to move on.”

Michtom, however, noted that representatives from Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and New York threatened to walk out of the Constitutional Convention if they did not have equal representation in what’s now the U.S. Senate.

“That’s how that deal got done,” Michtom said. “So, sometimes, you do when you see the thing not working right, when you see meetings happening outside of the main body of the thing, and at least what’s alleged is maybe the mustering of votes and the changing of agendas to make things go a certain way, I think it is worth walking away and that’s worth saying.”

That the four Black members of the charter revision commission stepped aside from their duties is worth paying attention to, Michtom said.

“[T]he fact of the matter is the commission is in some little bit of turmoil, let us say,” he said, adding that he, too, was not commenting on Yazbak or his credentials. “We can talk about who is right and who is wrong, but in this city something happened that caused all the Black members of the commission to walk away. These are folks with a long history of civic life; I think they take their roles seriously. That needs to be addressed by the folks who didn’t walk away. And this is the only opportunity I think we as council have to comment on [this], at least until the commission’s recommendations come back to us for a vote.”

Clarke, speaking a second time, urged his colleagues to speak to the commissioners who stepped aside in protest.

“These are some of the most astute, intelligent people that reside in the city … that we have charged to be on this body,” he said. “There is a reason why they decided to boycott/protest. And I want us to speak to them regarding the fact of why they chose to do so. They didn’t do it just because they didn’t get their way. They did it because of a reason and by things that had been discussed that they felt there was some level of injustice that has taken place.”

Councilman James Sanchez said he supported Yazbak’s appointment to ensure the charter revision commission continued its work.

“This is a seat that has become vacant and only because of the person relocating, nothing more, nothing less,” Sanchez said. “And it is our responsibility to make sure this commission is fully staffed. This is why I’m supporting the appointment of Peter Yazbak. He’s a great person. He’s a level-headed Hartford resident, always serving the community.

“I just feel that it is our responsibility to support this commission by making sure it is filled with the staffing that is required. If the other [six] still do not want to be part of this commission, we need to fill those seats immediately and move on. Because it’s not about me, it’s not about us, it’s about Hartford residents and our constituents, our families and our friends.”

Ultimately, the council approved Yazbak’s appointment 5-0, with the three abstentions. City Council President Maly Rosado, Gale, Sanchez, Councilman Nick Lebron and Assistant Majority Leader Marilyn Rossetti voted to appoint Yazbak. Councilwoman Shirley Surgeon was not present at the meeting.