I was the first to testify at last night’s meeting. I handed out a flier to Commission members and to those in attendance, but only had enough for c. 1/3rd of the c. 100 people who were there. Therefore, for those who didn’t receive a copy, here’s the text:
Nearly ONE THIRD of New Haven’s registered voters are NOT AFFILIATED with any political party, or are registered with a party that has very few members in New Haven—and therefore are almost completely shut out of the political process.
WAYS TO AMEND OUR CHARTER TO PARTIALLY FIX THIS:
Require that charter-mandated minority leadership board positions be automatically allocated to the smaller party OR allocated to unaffiliated voters.
HERE ARE THREE EXAMPLES OF HOW THIS CAN BE DONE:
TITLE III - CODE OF GENERAL ORDINANCES, Chapter 2 – ADMINISTRATION, ARTICLE X., APPOINTIVE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS; DEPARTMENT HEADS, DIVISION 1., GENERALLY
Sec. 2-551. - Appointment of minority representatives to city boards and commissions.
Section (c)
of the city charter SHOULD BE AMENDED TO READ:
Two-thirds (2/3) of the membership of said board, commission or agency shall be affiliated with the city's major political party as defined in Conn. General Statutes section 9-372 as amended from time to time. [AMEND BY ADDING THE FOLLOWING:] The remaining one-third (1/3) of the membership of said board, commission or agency shall be affiliated with the city’s minor political parties AND/OR shall be registered voters who are not affiliated with any political party.
SECOND EXAMPLE:
TITLE III - CODE OF GENERAL ORDINANCES, Chapter 2 - ADMINISTRATION , ARTICLE II. - BOARD OF ALDERMEN
Sec. 2-37 Approval of contracts on behalf of the board of aldermen.
SHOULD BE AMENDED TO READ:
Execution of any contract on behalf of the board of aldermen shall require approval of at least two (2) members of the leadership of the board of aldermen. Leadership is defined herein as the President, President Pro Tempore, the Majority Leader, Deputy Majority Leader, the Minority Leader, and the Chair and Vice Chair of the Black and Hispanic Caucus. [AMEND BY ADDING THE FOLLOWING:] If a current alderman is not a member of New Haven’s second-largest political party (based upon voter registration records), then that party shall assign one of its party members to serve on the board of aldermen as Minority Leader. If said party is unable to provide such member who will serve as Minority Leader, then New Haven’s third-largest political party (based upon voter registration records) shall assign one of its party members to serve on the board of aldermen as Minority Leader.
THIRD EXAMPLE:
New Haven’s ELECTION PROCESS must be subordinate to Conn. General Statutes, e.g. CHAPTER 146 ELECTIONS http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/pub/chap146.htm
HOWEVER legal counsel should be sought to determine if alternatives to the “winner takes all” system currently in place can be replaced with a MORE REPRESENTATIVE system such as PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION (used by the city of Cambridge, MA and in many countries; a useful introduction to this topic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportional_representation ) or NON-PARTISAN ELECTIONS (used by a MAJORITY of US municipalities. See http://www.nlc.org/build-skills-and-networks/resources/cities-101/city-officials/partisan-vs-nonpartisan-elections http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/06/26/what-can-get-more-new-yorkers-to-vote/make-elections-nonpartisan )

Note: the charter revision Commission is required to consider the 15 topics recommended by the Board of Aldermen—but the Commission is NOT limited to these 15 topics. See New Haven’s Charter: ARTICLE XXXIX. - ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS Sec. 216 http://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientID=14668&stateID=7&statename=Connecticut
Also Conn. State Statute Sec. 7-190 http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/statutes.asp

As an addendum to the above flier, I should point out that two complaints made by many of those in attendance last evening were lack of publicity concerning the meeting and the fact the very few in attendance knew that the Commission had a list of 15 topics to be considered, which you can see here: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/new_items_added_to_charter_revision_menu/

Here's an article about last night's [Jan 17, 2013] public hearing: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/honey_dont_shrink_the_board/

For those who did not attend the Feb. 1 public hearing at Hillhouse High, here is the text which I read and distributed:
SUGGESTIONS TO FIX THE BUDGET PROCESS
At the first public hearing on Jan 17 re. Charter revision, it was pointed out that a whopping 65% of the city’s budget goes toward the education dept., either directly or indirectly (e.g. via teachers’ salaries, pensions, etc.). Some attendees felt that this could be fixed partially by having an elected Board of Education. HOWEVER—regardless of whether the Board is elected or appointed or a hybrid—THE UNDERLYING PROBLEM IS—AND WILL REMAIN—A BUDGETARY PROBLEM.
HERE’S HOW TO FIX IT.
FIRST SUGGESTION:
New Haven, Connecticut, Code of Ordinances, TITLE I – CHARTER, ARTICLE V. - THE MAYOR
Sec. 12. – Duties [of the Mayor].
(b) [excerpt of current text:]
“…if the board of aldermen amend the budget as proposed by the mayor and the mayor should veto the budget as so amended, then the budget as originally proposed by the mayor shall go into effect unless the board of aldermen should override the veto at a special meeting of the board of aldermen to be called by the mayor or the president of the board of aldermen and held within seven days after receipt by said president from the mayor of the veto and veto message concerning the budget; if the board of aldermen amend in part the budget as proposed by the mayor, and the mayor should veto the part of the budget so amended, then the part as originally proposed by the mayor shall go into effect, or if the part were new, it shall be void, unless the board of aldermen should override the veto at the special veto meeting of the board of aldermen; if the board of aldermen should override the veto of the mayor by a two-thirds vote of all of the members of said board, present or absent, then the budget shall go into effect as originally approved by the board of aldermen.”
THIS PLACES FAR TOO MUCH BUDGETARY CONTROL UNDER THE OFFICE OF MAYOR!
HERE’S THE FIRST WAY TO FIX IT.
AMEND THE PRECEDING, AS FOLLOWS [suggested changes are in brackets]:
…-THE MAYOR
Sec.12. – Duties.
(b)…if the board of aldermen, [after the public hearings required in Article XI, sec. 58,] amend the budget as proposed by the mayor and the mayor should veto the budget as so amended, [then the mayor shall produce a new budget, based upon written recommendations of the board of aldermen, said recommendations being in a proposal passed by a two-thirds vote of the board of aldermen. If the mayor’s new proposed budget is likewise amended by the board of aldermen and the mayor should veto this new budget as so amended, then the mayor shall produce yet another new budget, based upon written recommendations of the board of aldermen, said recommendations being in a proposal passed by a two-thirds vote of the board of aldermen. This procedure shall be repeated as many times as required until the board of aldermen no longer passes further proposed recommendations by a two-thirds vote, at which point the latest version of the budget shall go into effect.]
SECOND SUGGESTION:
New Haven, Connecticut, Code of Ordinances, TITLE I – CHARTER, ARTICLE XI. - BUDGETARY PROCEDURES; REPORTING; FINANCIAL REVIEW AND AUDIT COMMISSION
Sec. 58. - Budgetary procedures; duties of the mayor, city clerk, board of aldermen.
(b) The budget shall be filed with the city clerk concurrently with its submission to the board of aldermen, and within four business days after its filing the clerk shall publish in a newspaper of general circulation in the city the proposed budget, and include in the notice that it is available for public inspection at the clerk's office [AMEND BY ADDING THE FOLLOWING:] as well as on the city’s website http://cityofnewhaven.com/ .
(c) [excerpt:] The board of aldermen committee or committees to which the budget has been referred shall hold at least two public hearings thereon… [AMEND by adding: “at least FOUR public hearings thereon. Each hearing shall be led by a member of the city’s Financial Review and Audit Commission as well as a member of the Board of Education.”]

An article on the Jan 31 public hearing: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/message_to_charter_revis/

Charter hearings over.