City Says No To Pesticides

Wednesday, September 6, 2017 - You can still legally use toxic chemicals to keep your lawns green — but now the city officially would rather that you not.

Such was one of the decisions of the Board of Alders on Tuesday night, when it voted unanimously during a regular meeting at City Hall to approve a resolution in support of the voluntary non-use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers on lawns and gardens in New Haven.

The nonbinding resolution recommends that residents first consider the health and environmental consequences of such actions with the hope that more people will choose safer lawn care alternatives instead.

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Holmes Passes The Baton

Decker, Holmes at Thursday night’s announcement.

Friday, July 14, 2017 - 

A political science graduate student who already doubles as a zoning commissioner and a union organizer is looking to pick up the batons of criminal justice reform and community engagement from an East Rock alder who has decided not to run for reelection.

The grad student, Charles Decker, a sixth-year Yale PhD candidate in political science who also serves on the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) and has been one of the leading organizers of Yale’s graduate teacher union UNITE HERE Local 33, formally launched his Democratic campaign to become the next alder for East Rock’s Ward 9 on Thursday night from his campaign treasurer’s apartment at Orange Street and Bishop Street.

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Lights, Cameras ... Action! Eyed For Parks

Edgewood basketball court, among those slated for resealing.

Friday, April 7, 2017 - New Haven basketball players can look forward to smoother surfaces and clearer three-point lines at courts throughout the city. Wooster Square will be better lit at night. And more security cameras may pop up in city parks.

City parks director Becky Bombero outlined those and other planned improvements during a presentation at a hearing held by the Board of Alders Finance Committee at City Hall on Thursday night on the Harp Administration’s proposed $554.5 million operating budget and $68.7 million capital budget for the coming fiscal year.

Bombero, joined by Deputy Director of Parks & Squares Bill Carone and Deputy Director of Recreation Bill Dixon, went through nearly each item of her department’s propsed $4.29 million city capital budget for fiscal year 2017-2018, zeroing in on the various improvement projects, both big and small, that are already or are about to be under way. The parks department’s proposed city capital budget marks a $1.395 million increase over this year’s; its proposed general fund budget is flat at $5,293,300.

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Bike Share Hits A Newhallville Speed Bump

Legislative rider: Alder Adam Marchand samples prototype at hearing.

Thursday, March 23, 2017 - Lawmakers were urged to approve a new bike share program in New Haven — as long as it includes neighborhoods away from downtown.

Which might not prove so simple, at least at first.

A public hearing Tuesday night drew enthusiastic support for the planned new project, which would eventually make at least 300 bicycles available for short-term rental at 30 stations located around the city. The Harp administration has chosen a company to run the program, which is similar to New York’s Citi Bike, and now needs Board of Alders approval to roll it out.

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Would 5 Miles Per Hour Make A Difference?

Antunes, at center, with Alders Delphine Clyburn and Sal DeCola.

Wednesday, March 22, 2017 - Two Alden Avenue neighbors offered different takes on how to slow down cars on their street — while lawmakers tried to figure out how much control they have over how fast people can legally drive in town.

The two-hour trip down Transportation Policy Road took place Tuesday night at a hearing at City Hall of the Board of Alders’ Public Safety and City Services & Environmental Policy committees.

The hearing concerned a proposed bill by Beaver Hills Alder Richard Furlow to explore the best ways to calm traffic and possibly lower the speed limit on city (as opposed to state) roads from 25 to 20 miles per hour.

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Top City Lawyer To Oversee New Department, Old Drama

Rose (center), his executive assistant, Counsel Pernal Paula Marie (right), Deputy Corporation Counsel Phoenix Cherie (left) at hearing.

March 17, 2017  - A hearing about the city’s top lawyer’s budget turned into an examination of why his office is taking over the labor relations department, when he plans to fill a top vacancy there, and whether he’s assuring that city officials are up to date on how to properly handle and dispose of official public records in the wake of a still ongoing controversy over a high-profile firing.

Corporation Counsel John Rose Jr. fielded those questions when he presented his proposed new budget at a three-hour-plus budget hearing held at City Hall Thursday night by by the Board of Alders Finance Committee.

Few of the questions had to do with the relevant numbers in the mayor’s proposed budget, however, which asks for Corporation Counsel to incorporate the three-person staff and $425,000 budget of labor relations into its purview.

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Zoning Overhaul OK’d

Marchand reviews example of mixed-use development before vote.

March 13, 2017 - Karyn Gilvarg and Tom Talbot of New Haven’s City Plan Department have been working on amendments to the city’s zoning ordinance that make it friendlier to mixed-use development: the idea that stores and apartments and offices can be mixed all together in dense city blocks rather than separated in specified districts.

The Board of Alders Legislation Committee has unanimously approved their proposed text edits, allowing the changes to be voted on at the next full Board of Alders meeting.

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New Food Cart Rules Advance

Hot dog man Sweeney: “Don’t put dollar up front!”

March 10, 2017 - The city came one step closer to realizing a new regulatory framework for monitoring New Haven’s food trucks, carts, and stands thanks to a vote following a three-hour public session at City Hall.

Before the vote Thursday night, some vendors told lawmakers they remain concerned about the unintended consequences that these regulations might have on the traffic safety of both their employees and their customers.

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Paperwork Snag Could Cost City

Alders Dolores Colon, Adam Marchand, Evette Hamilton at hearing.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017 - Alder Al Paolillo Jr. ran both of his hands through his hair as he tried to process what city Budget Director Joe Clerkin had just said: $1.6 million from the state might not make it into city coffers because of uncompleted paperwork.

That’s not money designated for future capital and infrastructure investments; that’s money the city has already spent and counted on getting back.

“So we’re not getting the [money] from the state?” Paolillo asked. “And the state just told us this?”

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Rose: Heed Us, Or Pay Your Own Bill

Rose at Monday night’s hearing.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017 - Can the city’s chief legal adviser deny representation to a department head who refuses to heed his advice? Should the city have to foot the bill when a city employee then seeks outside counsel?

These two questions occupied the first half of a nearly three-hour meeting held by the Board of Alders Finance Committee at City Hall Monday night.

A unified front of alders pushed and pulled with city Corporation Counsel John Rose Jr.over just how far the city’s legal department should go to defend municipal employees caught up in legal disputes, especially when those clients disregard the advice offered by the city’s appointed attorneys.

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