MINUTES OF THE NEW LONDON CITY COUNCIL
ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE
A meeting of the Administration Committee (“the Committee”) of the New London City Council was called to order at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, August 3, 2015 in the Council Chambers, Municipal Building, 181 State Street, New London, CT.
Committee Members Present:
Councilor Michael J. Tranchida, Chair
President Wade A. Hyslop, Jr.
Councilor Anthony L. Nolan (Absent)
Councilors:
Councilor Michael E. Passero
Councilor Martin T. Olsen, Jr.
President Pro Tem Dominguez, Jr.
Councilor Erica L. Richardson
1. Call to Order
The Chair called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
2. Public Comment
1. Karen Paul, 281 State Street, New London: I just wanted to share with you today that you have an application for the Pedestrian Advisory Committee for Mr. Ron Gaska. I strongly support this appointment; the Senior Affairs Commission supports this appointment. I think Ron will be an asset to that committee. Most of you know him, he is in a motorized wheelchair; he is all over this city. He really knows the conditions of the sidewalks and the streets and I really feel that he will be a valuable asset to that committee.
2. Cecilia Baxter, 74 Washington St, New London: Board member of the Consortium on Aging and Disability. I am also on the board to help run the new Centro de la Comunidad. I also want to clarify my phone number for the record, I’ve gotten a number of phone calls and people have said they have not been able to get through because my home phone is also attached to a fax machine. So my phone number is: 860.625.9403. I am also here because of an issue that dates back to last October, when Karen Paul decided to call a meeting when Efrain Dominguez had already called a meeting and was posted for three days prior. She called it a “special meeting” but it was not a special meeting. We are dealing with a predator bully here, with extremes of greed and power. She is a sick woman; I’m not going to go through the whole list here, because that has already been established. I’m here because Rita Valencia and I filed complaints against her within the city and outside. I filed a complaint against Lyndon McAllister for coming in here during a small break in the meeting and verbally accosting me. I also filed a complaint against Karen [Paul] for filing falsified minutes. They are in our records; they say nonsense. We also went over to Reverend Hyslop, after we tried to deal with Councilor Passero, and he was also participating in these illegal meetings. Reverend Hyslop never got back to Rita or me; he said he would forward it to the Law Director. Rev. Hyslop, I wrote this to you and I’m going to say it again; six experts stated that you cannot change a quorum retrospectively, it would have to have had been done prospectively; and it would also have to have been done by this body. Rev. Hyslop I’m going to tell you again, the Law Director’s opinion is wrong. So we are filing the complaints again, and I expect to hear back from you within one week.
3. Hugo Paredes, 45 , New London: First I want to say thank you to those councilors that voted for me for the Senior Affairs Commission at the July 6th meeting. I also want to point out that there were some things said about me on that day that are not true. In 2001 I participated with Centro de la Comunidad to help with the Puerto Rico Parade in New Haven; I collected over $1,000. In 2003, with the help with other citizens of New London, I made a Puerto Rican Festival at SailFest with Barbara Neff. I also have been on my radio station WCNI for 14 years. Two time board member of the Centro de la Comunidad. I was the treasurer and bar manager of the Moose Club. I play on many baseball and softball teams here in New London. July 6th when I was appointed to the Senior Affairs Commission, there was a person here who was speaking about me personally. I just want to say something about that; about 3 months ago I was asked to meet with a woman who wanted to help make a Latino senior center, I met with this woman and the first thing she told me was, “I am the only white woman that is trying to help you people”. I asked her what “people” she meant, and she responded, “The Latino people.” I responded, “I don’t need a white, green, purple, yellow person to fight for me, I can fight for myself and my people.” She proceeded to say that the “white” and “black” people are against the Latinos at the Senior Center. I said, “Segregation in 2015?? We don’t need to run away we need to go in and fix whatever problems there are.” This woman’s name is Cecilia Baxter. She has been attacking me; she has been trying to get me kicked off my radio show. I also told her that we have a Councilor on City Council that is of Puerto Rican decent: Councilor Efrain Dominguez. To which she replies, “He is a two-faced liar.” I just want to put on the record that I do not want my Latino community segregated, I want to fix whatever problems we have. Unfortunately, no one is perfect, but it is more unfortunate that there are people like Cecilia Baxter, where if you don’t agree with her she will try to attack you and destroy you. Thank you very much.
3. Appointments to Boards & Committees
The Following Individual is appointed to the Board of Ethics
· Karen Paul
Motion to accept by Councilor Tranchida; Seconded by President Hyslop
Discussion:
President Hyslop: Is this the only application for the Board of Ethics that we have received?
Councilor Tranchida: As far as I know this is the only application we have received.
Motion passes 2-0.
The following individual is reappointed to the Parking Authority:
· Mr. Charles Sotir
Motion to accept by Councilor Tranchida; Seconded by President Hyslop.
Passes 2-0.
The following individuals are appointed to the Pedestrian Advisory Committee:
· Mr. Ronald Gaska
· Ms. Beverly Knapp
Motion to accept appointment made by Councilor Tranchida; Seconded by President Hyslop. Passes 2-0.
Adjournment
President Hyslop moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilor Tranchida. Motion passed 2-0. Meeting adjourned at 5:50 p.m.
Received and Accepted by Council- August 17, 2015
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