PROPOSED CHARTER CHANGES FOR THE COUNCIL Submitted for review and comment to City of Hartford Councilmembers, by Councilwoman

Cynthia R. Jennings January 26, 2013 OVERVIEW The Mayor represents the Executive branch of government, and the Council represents the Legislative branch. There are checks and balances and separation of powers in a democracy for a reason. It is to avoid a dictatorship and a corrupt system of government. The Court of Common Council is required to draft ordinances, resolutions and legislation that will assure that policies adopted by the City protect the citizens from corruption, exclusion from the benefits of their tax investments, and against abuse at the hands of the government that they elected to represent them. They also have a right to assurance that the legislation developed by the Council on their behalf, are being reviewed, and enforced on their behalf, by Council. LEGAL COUNSEL FOR THE COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL The Charter should mandate that the Council should have a full-time attorney paid and assigned to represent the Council only, separate from, but equal to the Corporation Counsel who currently represents the Mayor. This is critical to the balance of power evident in any democratic form of government. One branch of government should not be expected to obtain legal advice from an attorney that represents another branch of Government. COUNCIL SALARIES Councilmembers should not be paid less than the staff that work for them. Additionally, each councilmember should be able to independently appoint their political appointee, and these political appointees should serve at the pleasure of the councilmember who appoints them. The salaries of Councilmembers must be raised to be comparable to the Mayor, and City Department Heads. The Charter must be changed so that Councilmembers can be respected by staff, department heads, the Mayor and the residents of this city relative to salaries being paid for work being done. Councilmembers should receive a minimum annual payment of $90,000.00 and a budget of $15,000 each for annual expenses, including payment of tickets to events that councilmembers must attend in order to do the business of the city. This includes parking, training or educational workshops relative to the business of the city, retreats and conferences. It can be stipulated that no salary increases would take place while we are in office, however, Council salaries must be increased.

1 Proposed Charter Changes for Review by Council Submitted by Councilwoman Cynthia R. Jennings January 26, 2013

INDEPENDENT SELECTION OF STAFF MEMBERS There should NOT be a vote of council to approve any political appointee for Council members, and no employee of one branch of government should be allowed to be vetoed by the Mayor. The Mayor can select his own staff members, as can the Treasurer, and the Council has no right to interfere with the political appointments of any other branch of government. There must be a clear separation of powers between the independent branches of government.

COUNCIL APPOINTMENT OF ETHICS COMMISSIONERS The City Council should directly appoint at least 50% of the Ethics Commissioners, and the Council should have subpoena, investigative and audit powers relative to possible ethics violations.

COUNCIL INVESTIGATIVE POWERS There should be put in place, an investigative process that City Council can initiate that would allow the Council to investigate claims of violation of the civil rights of city employees. This should not be left up to Corporation Counsel, whose role is to protect the City from liability and to advise the Mayor. There must be an independent investigative process that can be initiated by Council to ensure that the civil rights of Hartford taxpayers and city employees are not violated.

SEPARATION OF POWERS There should be a strict policy of separation of powers. The Mayor has no right to interfere in the affairs of Council, or the affairs of the Treasurer, and the Council has no right to interfere in the affairs of the Mayor or the Treasurer. Jurisdiction should be inherently clear as to the rights of each of the separate branches of government and the role of each of the branches. Procedures within the separate branches of government should not become subject to the vote of council if the jurisdiction of the powers are enumerated in the Charter, and fall within their authority under the charter. ENUMERATION OF POWERS If the powers are not enumerated in the Charter, then they remain within the jurisdiction of the Council to investigate and to take action on. The Charter must be clear as to what powers are specifically enumerated and granted to each branch of government. If there is no enumeration of powers, then responsibility goes to the Council for action. PROTECTION OF EMPLOYMENT, CONTRACTING AND PROCUREMENT The Council needs to be modified with respect to the Councils right to protect the employment, contracting, procurement and civil rights of the taxpayers of the City of Hartford. They are the people who elected the City Council and the Mayor and Treasurer to represent them, and Council as the legislative body, has the responsibility
2 Proposed Charter Changes for Review by Council Submitted by Councilwoman Cynthia R. Jennings January 26, 2013

to make sure that the legislation passed by this body, is enforced and implemented on behalf of the taxpayers of this city. Council must have a system in place to regulate and enforce the hiring of local residents and local contractors, and this authority must be designated in the Charter. CONTRACT COMPLIANCE The Mayors office is not free to select out of state and out of city highly paid employees to come into the City of Hartford without first seeking and exhausting the resumes of City residents to take Hartford Jobs. Hartford taxpayers are paying for each of these salaries, and it is incumbent on the Council to make sure that any and all legislation and union contract Project Labor Agreements are in compliance with Hartford hiring policies. Staff members that do not fall under any union labor agreements, must be in compliance with hiring legislation BEFORE any individual from outside of the State or the City are hired. This includes contractors, department heads, etc.

ENFORCEMENT OF COUNCIL LEGISLATION Council needs to enforce the ordinances and legislation and project labor agreements that are already in place that currently require the hiring of Hartford residents and Hartford contractors. The Council has a responsibility to protect Hartford residents from outside contractors and individuals being paid millions of dollars in contracts, while Hartford residents, who pay these taxes, have no rights to employment, procurement and contracting opportunities within the City where they pay taxes. It is Councils responsibility to establish enforcement follow-up reporting and criteria for the purpose of protecting the rights of Hartford residents relative to employment and contracting opportunities that Hartford residents fund through their tax dollars. This is intended to address the lack of hiring of Hartford residents in direct contradiction to the ordinances, project labor agreements, and municipal policies that are currently in place to protect Hartford residents and their right to work. It is Councils responsibility to make sure that these laws are enforced.

The Council must have the right to conduct audits of contracts that we approve, and the resources in the budget to do this. This right must also be mandated by and included in the Charter. Council approves contracts that may or may not be implemented in accordance with our mandates. It is Councils responsibility to follow up and audit contracts and to audit the implementation of any and all ordinances that we vote favorably on. Any ordinances that require the hiring of Hartford residents, or the hiring of local contractors should be audited by the Council to ensure that the people of the City are protected in accordance with the policies that we put in place. If Council votes on hiring policies for Hartford residents, or Project Labor Agreements (PLA) with the unions, then we should be able to audit these agreements to make sure that there is compliance and that Hartford residents are being hired. The Hiring of Hartford residents
3 Proposed Charter Changes for Review by Council Submitted by Councilwoman Cynthia R. Jennings January 26, 2013

cannot be left up to the Mayor to enforce. It is the Councils mandate, and it is the Councils responsibility to audit these programs to make sure that the mandates of the Council are being implemented and complied with in every hiring decision. STAFF CONFIDENTIALITY CLAUSE There should be a confidentiality clause included in the employment contracts for all staff members hired by council, and violation of this confidentiality clause should subject staff members to disciplinary action by their appointing authority. This should be enumerated in the Charter as well. CONCLUSION The Charter was written by a former Mayor who believed in total power in the hands of the Mayor. This did not work, and resulted in the indictment of several individuals, and the conviction of the Mayor who wrote the Charter. The Council needs to review the Charter, and make necessary changes relative to checks and balances in government, as well as to eliminate any excesses in terms of powers that throw off the checks and balances that need to be in place to avoid future abuses of power and possible legal issues relative to elected officials. Council is the legislative body that must put these checks and balances in place.

4 Proposed Charter Changes for Review by Council Submitted by Councilwoman Cynthia R. Jennings January 26, 2013