ConnCAN has announced the launch of SmartChoices, an impressive digital guide to public school choice for 19 local school districts in the Hartford region, an effort in partnership with Trinity College. In the future, the site’s database will likely expand to include more districts.

According to the site, the Capitol Region Education Council serves as a Regional Educational Service Center for 35 school districts in the area. Thirty of these are eligible to participate in the Open Choice program for next year. Described as a “city-suburban desegregation transfer program,” Open Choice, via a lottery system, enables city students to attend public suburban schools, and suburban students to attend public city schools.

ConnCAN’s executive director, Alex Johnston, wrote in an email early this afternoon:

For the first time, parents can input their address and child’s grade into a Web site that provides an interactive map and information on each public school for which their child is eligible and how to apply.

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An editorial in yesterday’s Republican, titled, “Our local legislators are hurting Springfield,” issued the paper’s harshest concise criticism to date of State Representatives Ben Swan and Cheryl Coakley-Rivera. Both city residents, they have attempted to block a key bill in the state legislature that would enable Springfield to take more time to pay back a $52 million state loan, among other significant changes to city government. From the article:

As we have said before, [the state representatives'] actions were designed solely for their political benefit, perhaps even personal benefit. These actions were irresponsible, unseemly and arrogant.

Swan in particular was described as “a man who operates with total disrespect for the people he was elected to represent.” At the end of the editorial, questions arose about State Rep. Tom Petrolati, “the undisputed leader of our delegation,” who apparently did nothing while these moves were made to block the legislation.

Pleased by the editorial, Springfield blogger Victor Davila wrote in a post yesterday, “My compliments to the Republican newspaper for serving as an important tool in the stabilization of Springfield.” Presumably, the important tool aspect is in swaying public opinion against the legislators—thereby preventing them from being re-elected, perhaps. People should ask for more than just that from the local newspaper. More meaningful coverage is needed, and I would argue the disparaging comments are really not useful at all.

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Update 1/5: Sarah Barr of Mayor Eddie Perez’s office announced late today that calling hours will be held from 3:00 to 8:00 pm on Wednesday, January 7 at the D’Esopo Funeral Chapel, 277 Folly Brook Boulevard in Wethersfield. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, January 8, 10:00 am at St. Augustine Church, 10 Campfield Avenue in Hartford’s South End. Burial will be at Cedar Hill Cemetery, 453 Fairfield Avenue, also in the South End.

Former Hartford Mayor Mike Peters passed away last night at the age of 60, after suffering from liver damage, getting a transplant in October, and then enduring kidney problems. At about 9:00 pm, City Councilperson Luis Cotto announced on Twitter, “bumming…mike peters just died!”

Two hours later, WFSB aired a memorializing summary of Peters’s time as mayor from 1993 to 2001, for its 11:00 pm news broadcast:

Under the Peters administration, the city cracked down on gangs and beefed up police presence with substations. Soon, the streets were cleaner and drug-infested housing projects were torn down.

Voters responded and re-elected Peters by landslides in 1995, 1997, and 1999. In 1996, Peters was named one of the top ten public officials in the nation. However, 1997 brought the lowest point of Peters’s administration. The state lost its only major-league sports franchise – The Hartford Whalers.

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With an eye on downtown Hartford, Emily Gianquinto at Live in Hartford reviewed five Pratt Street eateries over the weekend: The Russell, Tamarind Grill & Bar, Tanuki, Vaughn’s Public House, and JoJo’s Coffee Roasting Company.

Another new locale on Pratt Street Gianquinto didn’t review is The Society Room of Hartford (pictured), “where elegance meets excellence,” for private, catered gala events only. Amy Bergquist at the Greater Hartford Real Estate Blog noted its setting in the space formerly occupied by Joe Black’s, as well as the Courant’s coverage of the opening alongside the closure of the downtown Goodwin Hotel. Also closing downtown, as of tomorrow: Rosco’s Big Dog on Temple Street, to the chagrin of blogger Helder Mira.

First Night festivities begin in Hartford at 2:00 pm tomorrow downtown. Tickets can be purchased for $15 for adults and $2 for children under 15. A list of places to purchase tickets is here along with maps and schedules to download. To the north, the place to be is clearly the downtown Sheraton Hotel in Monarch Place, where the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield is ringing in the new year with a massive $59-per-person gourmet dinner and dance party beginning at 8:00 pm.

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At a morning press conference in Springfield City Hall today, Mayor Domenic Sarno (pictured earlier this year, with City Councilor Jose Tosado) stood by a large foam board display of “pink slips,” grasping a press release in his hand printed on pink paper, and called for the state legislature to pass a stalled bill submitted by Governor Deval Patrick.

The display was meant to elicit the notion of what might happen if the bill doesn’t pass.

“We are now looking at possible 9C mid year cuts,” Sarno said. “Each and every one of you remember the Romney administration—March of 2003—the massive layoffs that occurred, 353 individuals laid off.”

“You see the pink sheets of paper there,” he continued, “and you see what that could be: firefighters, police officers, teachers, municipal employees. You also know that in FY10 we face the possibility of five to ten percent [in] local aid cuts. That’s why this legislation, on the fiscal front, is the right thing to do.”

The bill aims to end the era of the Finance Control Board in the city and extend the state’s interest-free, $52 million loan repayment period.

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The Mason Square library branch saga in Springfield took a dramatic turn last night, hopefully in the interest of bringing the neighborhoods in the very center of the city significantly closer to getting back its full-service library.

The Springfield Republican reported today in an article by Mike Plaisance that city solicitor Ed Pikula came to a decision on the potential taking by eminent domain of the Urban League of Springfield, Inc. building at 765 State Street, at Mason Square. Plaisance reported that Pikula said a $700,000 cap, plus inflationary and moving cost adjustments, is binding. The cap results from a previously unknown agreement between the Urban League and the state Attorney General.

The Urban League has said it would fight a taking by eminent domain for the purpose of replacing the neighborhood library. But it may not have much in the way of grounds to do so, thanks to its own secret agreement, the origins and manner of which remain rather mysterious.

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The Hartford City Council passed an ordinance during its December 8 meeting that would create a three-member freedom of information advisory board for the city, to foster compliance with state freedom of information rules. The ordinance is an amendment to Chapter 2, Article V of the city’s municipal code.

But who has the authority to appoint the membership of the board? The question, and the seemingly hesitant behavior of city officials surrounding these issues, points to an ongoing saga of confusion over how the executive and legislative branches of city government ought to work together since the establishment of a strong mayor system.

The new ordinance establishes a rule that the board will be created by the city council. The city’s Corporation Counsel, John Rose, has advised that the ordinance is not in compliance with the city charter (PDF), because it’s Mayor Eddie Perez who should make such appointments.

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For those readers who do not use an RSS reader to keep up with blogs, or who prefer to get the very latest as it becomes available, Urban Compass now provides email notification of blog posts.

Registered users of the blog have a couple more options for email format; adjust your notification settings here (after logging in). If you want just Springfield posts, or just Hartford posts, select only that category. If you want everything, “select all” at bottom.

Not registered? Sign up as a new user here.

At last week’s public charter revision hearing in the downtown Hartford public library, a recently-created 13-member panel (of which I am a part) heard from eight prominent officials regarding a possible revision of the city’s charter. (Photo: some members of the charter revision commission, by Robert Cotto. From left, Sara Bronin, Edwin Vargas, Matt Fleury, Marquita McElya, Heather Brandon, and Monique Rowtham-Kennedy.)

Most of the speakers had been invited to come to the podium first, prior to the general public, and this took up all of the available two hours before the library had to close at 8:00 pm. A second hearing has been arranged for Thursday, December 18, starting at 6:00 pm in City Council chambers.

Most of the speakers mentioned an interest in district elections for City Council. The subject also arose in nearly every hearing of the four held last summer by the City Council’s Legislative Affairs Committee. Read the resulting summary report of those hearings here (PDF).

The chairman of that committee, Councilperson Matt Ritter, spoke first at last week’s hearing and told the charter revision commission that district elections are “the number one issue” in considering charter reform.

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A public rally is set to take place tonight at 6:15 pm, on the steps of Springfield City Hall, in support of eminent domain use to take back a former library building currently owned by the Urban League (pictured; photo by library manager Reggie Wilson). The rally is being planned by the Mason Square Library Advisory Committee. The City Council has already voted to urge Mayor Domenic Sarno to use eminent domain to take 765 State Street, the Urban League building.

Sarno has generally withheld comment, pending another city solicitor opinion, since the recent revelation of a previously-unknown 2003 agreement between the Urban League and the Massachusetts Attorney General.

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Yesterday I appeared alongside the Courant’s esteemed Tom Condon on an episode of John Dankosky’s show, “Where We Live,” at Hartford-based WNPR. We discussed how Barack Obama’s proposed economic stimulus might benefit Connecticut’s infrastructure.

Other guests via phone during the show included Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell and Jim Cameron of Darien, blogger and chairman of the volunteer CT Metro-North Rail Commuter Council. Rell began the show with her call to share what priority projects are emerging for the stimulus funding, and Dankosky pressed her with questions about whether there is any broader vision behind all the assorted projects, and who should be making key decisions about selecting them.

Rell said she thought such decisions should essentially lie within the state legislature with an emphasis on getting people to work. She didn’t mention many specifics, but spoke broadly of roads, bridges, dams, and water and sewer projects. She briefly cited Moses Wheeler Bridge (pictured) over the Housatonic River, adding that safety is an important issue in considering how to allocate infrastructure spending.

The bridge, between Bridgeport and New Haven, carries I-95 spans the river between Stratford and Milford, and is scheduled to be replaced completely by 2016 following an feasibility study and re-design by STV Inc. It’s also about to undergo work, beginning early next year, to preserve its structural integrity for the time being; a contract has been granted to Minnesota-based Abhe & Svoboda, Inc. at a cost of just under $2.5 million. Whether stimulus funding could go toward shoring up the bridge temporarily, or replacing it instead, which will be more costly, wasn’t clear.

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A crowd of 40 people gathered Tuesday evening for a public scoping hearing at Hartford’s Union Station to hear plans on the developing New Haven-Hartford-Springfield commuter rail line.

Ralph Trepal, PE (pictured), regional vice-president of Wilbur Smith Associates—headquartered in South Carolina, and ConnDOT’s consultant—led the presentation on the status of the project. In front of business and civic leaders, Trepal described the goals of project, the details of an environmental assessment underway, and alternative proposals. (Chapter 7 [PDF] of the June 2005 commuter rail implementation plan described the anticipated potential environmental issues associated with the project.)

Audience members implored the consultants and ConnDOT officials to proceed on the project with a sense of urgency.

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A public meeting on the pending redevelopment of the Longhill Gardens Condominiums complex in Springfield has been scheduled for Wednesday, December 17, at 7:00 pm, according to an article in today’s Republican. 

The public meeting will take place at the Forest Park Middle School and will be hosted by the Forest Park Civic Association. The public is invited to “review and comment on the architectural plans for the site,” according to reporter Peter Goonan. Update: the FPCA provides site plans and elevations here for review.

This accompanies news of Boston-based WinnCompanies having submitted the lone bid (for $2.2 million) at an auction yesterday to sell a defaulted Citibank mortgage for a majority of the five prominent, boarded-up buildings. (Other entities and individuals own a small number of the condominium units; presumably these are being negotiated separately.) According to a published public notice (see bottom of post), the mortgage is assigned to Winn’s new entity for the purpose, Longhill Acquisitions LLC.

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The Hartford Courant reported today that the board of directors for the Hartford Public Library agreed yesterday to implement many of the suggestions of a safety and security task force.

The task force, convened last summer, recently released an undated document containing recommendations to address numerous complaints.

The board also bid an official farewell to chief librarian Louise Blalock, who is retiring. Steven Goode reported in the Courant that the board of directors gave her “a standing round of applause” for her 14 years of service.

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A crowd of community and civic leaders met Wednesday night to listen to a distinguished panel speak at Hartford’s downtown library branch about the preparation of the city’s high school students. The panel discussion, entitled, “Raising the Bar: Preparing Hartford’s High School Students to Succeed,” sought to illuminate reforms in the Hartford Public Schools district at the secondary level.

In front of a group of nearly 50 attendees (pictured: Marva Jackson), five panelists elaborated on these reforms. Speakers on the panel included: Benjamin Cruse, Director of Youth Services, Leadership Greater Hartford; Joshua Hall, Vice President, Hartford Federation of Teachers; Milly Arciniegas, President, Hartford PTO Council; Mark McQuillan, Commissioner, Connecticut State Department of Education; and in place of Hartford Public Schools Superintendent Steven Adamowski, Joan Massey, Assistant Superintendent.

With the help of students and vocal community leaders present, a consensus emerged that students need to be more engaged in the classroom. An unsettled question remained, however, on how to get students more engaged, and what exact changes are needed to make this possible.

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Pioneer Valley Advocates for Commuter Rail will collect signatures supporting regional commuter rail on Thursday, December 4. PVACR member and Hatfield resident Nancy Considine will be available from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm at Holyoke Community College, inside the entrance to the cafeteria in the campus center, also known as Building G.

The petition will be delivered to the Massachusetts legislature’s Joint Transportation Committee, Lt. Gov. Tim Murray, and Governor Deval Patrick, as well as Sen. Edward Kennedy, Sen. John Kerry, and Congressional representatives.

From a press release:

PVACR is an all-volunteer grassroots organization promoting the economic, environmental, and ease of travel benefits of the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield Commuter Rail line.

Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd was recently in Enfield, where he urged Massachusetts leaders to support this commuter rail line.

Conservative estimates calculate that a commuter rail line from New Haven to Springfield could bring in $152 million in new economic activity. At a time when national priorities for transportation are in transition, Massachusetts residents need to show their leaders they want commuter rail.

An editorial in today’s Hartford Business Journal notes an urgency for business leaders in the area to “get cracking immediately on a detailed list of infrastructure priorities.” The piece cites Barack Obama’s pending job creation effort to invest heavily in infrastructure projects. Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell issued a press release last Friday noting that such potential projects in the state should be shovel-ready in anticipation of the federal assistance.

Rell is meeting with Obama, along with other governors, tomorrow in Philadelphia (see her press release on the subject). She will argue that the federal government should cover the infrastructure projects completely rather than asking the state to pitch in 20 percent, referring to a high level of need along with lacking funds.

In her release, Rell said, “The nation’s governors have already identified the national transportation system as a top priority for investment. It truly is the lifeblood of our economy for Connecticut and across the country. The jobs these investments will create will help us rebuild both our highway and rail systems and our economy.”

Some such local projects came to light during a November 21 meeting between Senator Chris Dodd (pictured) and various local officials in Enfield.

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Playing at Hartford’s Real Art Ways through Sunday, November 30, Azur and Asmar is a French animation film (in English) by Michel Ocelot, brought to the city by GKIDS, which also produces the New York International Film Festival.

In an email, Dave Jesteadt of GKIDS called the film “a unique opportunity for families, animation, art and film fans to catch a movie that has been critically acclaimed for its gorgeous visuals and powerful story.” A review in the Courant last week echoed the sentiment, calling it “nearly flawless.” The film was also favorably reviewed in Variety.

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Frustrated by late-breaking news in the form of a previously confidential, yet technically public document regarding the library controversy in Springfield’s Mason Square, Mayor Domenic Sarno recently shared some controversial comments with reporter and editor Mike Dobbs for the Reminder that have come to be disputed. Now it’s hard to tell who is telling the truth, and whether it matters.

The comments came in the wake of a November 10 vote by the City Council, which passed by a margin of 5-4, urging Sarno and the city’s Library Commission to initiate eminent domain proceedings to seize the Urban League building at 765 State Street. Continue reading…

An event this evening at the downtown library branch in Hartford features a panel of discussants taking on the topic of the local economy. City Councilman James Boucher will moderate the panel, which is titled, “Where There’s Crisis, There’s Opportunity: The Impact of the Current Financial Climate on Hartford and the Region.” The panel begins with light refreshments at 5:30 pm, followed by a program at 6:00.

From the promotional bit:

We are in the midst of the greatest international financial crisis since the Great Depression. What are the implications for Hartford and the capital region? What will be the impact on the local economy, the neighborhoods, jobs, housing, and downtown development? How long will the downturn last, and where’s the silver lining? Come hear the perspectives of local leaders and discuss your concerns with them.”

The panelists are Yvon Alexandre (pictured, left) of the Hartford Chamber of Commerce and owner of Vibz Uptown; Erin Boggs of the Connecticut Fair Housing Center; Fred Carstensen (pictured, right) of the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis at UConn; Courant business columnist Dan Harr; and David Panagore, the city’s new Director of Development Services.

At last night’s brief charter revision commission meeting at Hartford City Hall, there was some discussion about how to get the word out about the public meeting that has been set for Wednesday, December 10, at 6:00 pm to gather initial input.

The meeting will take place in City Council chambers and will likely be televised live (and repeated later) on the local government channel.

With limited funds available and not much time to spare before things get underway, commissioners wondered whether there might be some blessed media coverage, and even weighed the value of buying advertising in the newspaper to alert the public to the meeting. Chairman Rich Wareing mentioned that he had a pending lunch date on the subject with a Courant reporter, and that could lead to a kind of free advertising. Were there any other avenues? Some suggested that we were left to try to spread the news by word-of-mouth, on our own, simply reaching out to our own friends, neighbors and other contacts.

Wouldn’t it be marvelous if there were some inexpensive, easily-created and universally accessible medium for alerting people to important events of civic concern?

Nina Totenberg, NPR’s legal affairs correspondent, will speak on Wednesday, November 19, 7:30 pm in Springfield at Symphony Hall downtown (pictured above right), as the season’s final Springfield Public Forum event.

The topic of Totenberg’s lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be the US Supreme Court, and potential impact on it from the incoming administration of Barack Obama. Symphony Hall and the Supreme Court building (pictured below right) only coincidentally happen to look quite similar.

From the Public Forum’s press release:

Ms. Totenberg, legal affairs correspondent for NPR programs All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition is also a regular panelist on Inside Washington, a weekly syndicated public affairs television program produced in the nation’s capital. On the non-broadcasting side of her career, she has written for a wide range of newspapers and periodicals, from the New York Times Magazine to the Harvard Law Review.

Nina Totenberg has won every major journalism award in broadcasting, including the Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists for investigative reporting, the American Bar Association’s excellence in legal reporting award, and the prestigious Joan S. Barone Award for excellence in Washington-based national affairs/public policy reporting, among many others. She is also the only radio journalist to have won the National Press Foundation award for Broadcaster of the Year.

In a press release issued today after a City Hall event, Hartford Mayor Perez stated that the single-stream recycling pilot underway in targeted areas of the city has more than doubled recycling tonnage. The program was launched in May.

“After 25 weeks of operation,” Perez said, “Hartford’s recycling tonnage has more than doubled in the participating households, going from eight tons per week to 17 tons per week of recyclable materials. More households have also increased the variety of items they are recycling as a result of educational efforts to inform citizens about what can be placed in the blue cart.”

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Looking for something creative, charitable and community-building to do this weekend? Two arts-related events in Hartford and Springfield can use your support.

Environmental Film Festival

Saturday night, November 15, the charming Cinestudio theater on the Trinity College campus in Hartford is screening eight short films, sponsored by the local REI store. It is the only screening in the state for the nationally-touring Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival.

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If you haven’t read through Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s urban policy plan (PDF) yet, there’s no time like the present.

As has been widely reported, upon taking office, Obama intends to create a White House Office on Urban Policy, the director of which would report to the president and coordinate all federal urban programs, such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Commerce. The intent is “to ensure that all federal dollars targeted to urban areas are effectively spent on the highest-impact programs.”

A Web site has been set up, obamaurbanpolicy.org, where you can suggest and vote for various recommendations for the new office.

As Ben Fried at Streetsblog noted, the site was set up by the people at frontseat.org, who also set up walkscore.com. Frontseat.org also provided obamacto.org, which is soliciting suggestions for Obama’s soon-to-be-appointed chief technology officer.

The top three vote-getting ideas at the moment at the urban policy site, regardless of whether the federal government has influence on them, are all transportation-related: “invest in a world-class rail network,” “change zoning laws to promote walkable development,” and “end subsidies for car-dependent development.”

Some have asserted or were quoted saying director of urban policy would be “a great job.” I can only concur. Who will get it? What will change for US cities as a result, and how soon?

Amy Bergquist of the Greater Hartford Real Estate Blog wrote a post today about a panel discussion on regionalism that took place early this morning at the University of Hartford. The event was titled, “Stay Retro or Go Metro?” The panel was set to address the question, what are the pros and cons of more regional cooperation and of acting more like a metro region?

The panel was part of an ongoing series sponsored by the Hartford Courant called the Key Issues Forum, and was also co-sponsored by the university’s Center for Integrated Design. Panelists were Mary Glassman, first selectwoman of Simsbury; Mark Muro, policy director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution; State Rep. Brendan Sharkey of Hamden; and Lyle Wray, executive director of the Capitol Region Council of Governments. Bergquist noted that the audience of just over 100 was largely packed with older white men:

I wasn’t sure if the audience was a reflection of the demographic that finds this topic of interest, or that the time of day had more to do with it. Would an event held in the evening draw the same crowd? We need younger people caring about this too!

We also need more bloggers covering events like this of regional interest to get the word out, as Bergquist has helpfully done. Who will take the lead on regionalism?

The Springfield City Council passed an ethics ordinance [Word Doc; draft version] at its meeting Monday night, effective February 1, 2009. Originally drafted by Councilors Pat Markey and Bruce Stebbins and filed on May 19, it failed to pass. It was filed again on June 2, and this time it was sent to committee and underwent a revision process for several months, staying alive.

By this week’s vote, the ordinance had gained the sponsorship support of Councilors Rosemarie Mazza-Moriarty, Jose Tosado and James Ferrera. Ferrera was previously a vocal opponent, but advocated getting input on the ordinance from the School Committee, city department heads, and board and commission members, according to City Clerk Wayman Lee’s records. Over the last several months, Ferrera completely turned around in his position and became a vocal advocate of the ethics ordinance.

Generally speaking, the ordinance establishes methods and reach for public disclosure. City officials—elected and appointed—will be required to file forms annually noting conflicts of interest, as well as some sources of funding for various endeavors, such as political campaigns. Lobbyists seeking to influence decisions of government bodies will be defined, charged with an annual fee of $500, and will be required to file reports annually as well.

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The Hartford City Council approved a city charter revision commission last month, and on the evening of November 6 last week, the commission held its first public organizational meeting in City Council chambers to become acquainted, take an oath of office, elect officers, and get a sense of its meeting schedule.

In an October 14 City Council resolution, the names and addresses of the members were listed, along with certain legal details. The commission is required to consist of between five and 15 city residents, not more than a third of whom can hold any other city public office, and not more than a “bare majority” of whom represent any single political party.

As it turns out, the commission includes 13 members: one Working Families Party, two unaffiliated, three Republicans, and seven Democrats.

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