{news} FW: Ward 10 Aldermanic Newsletter - September

Sun Sep 28 20:28:10 EDT 2008

Greens and other Friends,

For those who are interested in what a Green Party alderman might do, here is a brief  summation. There are other things that I didn't mention on this newsletter such as my work on the Peace Commission, the Littigation Settlement Committee (which settles all the City lawsuits), Food Policy Working Group, Fight the Hike, etc, to say nothing Constituent Service in general. More in future newsletters.

Best, Allan
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Ward 10 Aldermanic Newsletter - September 28, 2008

Ward 10 and East Rock Residents,

Attached are: 1. A better formatted version of this newsletter in Word; 2. David Cameron's op-ed in the New Haven Register; and, 3. The Trowbridge Environmental Center's program for October.

This newsletter contains some of the issues that I have been engaged in, of interest to the Ward. The topics, in order, are:
-Crime, 
-the Blue Ribbon Budget Review Panel, 
-the Trowbridge Environmental Center program for October (attached),
-Safe Street Initiative,
-Hooker School Construction,
-the Octoberfest, and, of course,
-Important Phone Numbers.
Hope everybody is settling in for a productive fall season. Let me hear from you via phone or email.
Special Thanks to all who have attended and/or helped in the summer activities that have taken part in College Woods, especially my birthday party in June, the Ward 10 Democratic Committee's party this month, all of the various events of the Friends of East Rock Park, as well as all of the various Block Parties around the ward.
See you all this Sunday at Octoberfest!!
Best, Allan
Allan Brison
Alderman, Ward 10
Green Party
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CRIME
As reported in a recent New Haven Independent story, our neighbors in the SoHu (South of Humphrey) district have started biking and walking patrols in order to combat a series of muggings in the area. The patrols are not armed. 
The idea is to add more eyes and ears to the neighborhood, thus discouraging crime; and to engage, rather than accuse, suspicious individuals by patrollers introducing themselves as the Block Watch, giving the individuals a flyer describing the watch, and asking them to report to the watch if they see anything suspicious. 
The flyers are titled “East Rock Neighbors: Eyes Open and Cell Phones Ready.”  
See the full story at the link below to read arguments on both sides of the question as to whether such patrols are good (some feel that if the community takes on this, the police will concentrate their efforts elsewhere) and whether or not such patrols should be armed.
My own feeling is that citizen patrols are terrifically effective, do not decrease police presence, and are, indeed, a great help to the police; if they can be sustained. I would not support armed patrols. 
I would be happy to assist in the establishment of a similar patrol in our ward. Let me know if anybody is interested.
Here is the link to the full story:
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2008/09/after_stickup_2.php 
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BLUE RIBBON BUDGET REVIEW PANEL
As a member of the Leadership of the Board of Aldermen, I am a part of the committee that has been interviewing nominations for this new panel, and advising Board President Carl Goldfield in his appointments.
This panel was created by a recent order of the BOA. The hoped-for mission is to help the Board get a handle on the budget. The usual yearly process has the Administration presenting their budget to the Board in March or so, giving the Board only about 2 months to review and pass this extremely complicated piece of legislation. 
The purpose of this new panel would be to start studying the budget much earlier, while it is still in progress, in cooperation with Administration personnel; and then to present the budget to the Board in a more understandable fashion; and to make specific recommendations to the Board.
It is my opinion that such a panel could be a great help. Though I am not assigned to the Finance Committee, the body that reviews and passes on the budget; I have attended almost all of their meetings, occasionally being empanelled, as needed when the committee doesn't have a quorum. I have spent a great deal of time wrestling with the budget. I feel that something like this panel is absolutely essential if the Board is to perform its charter-mandated oversight function.
The panel is to consist of 11 people as follows:
-2 Administration personnel: Larry Rusconi, the Budget Director, and Mark Pietrosimone, the Comptroller;
-2 Alders as appointed by the President of the BOA; and
-7 New Haven Residents, also appointed by the President of the BOA.
I have made 5 nominations to the panel, including East Rock residents David Cameron and Christine Bishop. I have attached a recent op-ed in the New Haven Register of David Cameron's which I hope everybody will read.
We are now awaiting President Goldfield's appointments which will go a long way in determining whether, or not, this panel will be a serious contribution to the budget process and aldermanic oversight.
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TROWBRIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER
Attached is a schedule of nature programs for the month of October offered by the staff of the Trowbridge Environmental Center at East Rock Park. These programs are open to the general public. Please call the Trowbridge Center at 946-6086 if you have any questions or wish to register for a program. To register, please leave your name, a phone number where you can be contacted, and the number of people you would like to register.

Tom Parlapiano, Trowbridge Naturalist
Dan Barvir, East Rock Park Ranger
Trowbridge Environmental Center
New Haven Dept. of Parks, Recreation & Trees
946-6086

The October schedule for the events of the Environmental Center located at College Woods is attached.
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SAFE STREETS INITIATIVE - COMPLETE STREET PROPOSAL
Kudos to my fellow alders, Erin Sturges-Pasquale and Roland Lemar, and to the Safe Streets Coalition and Elm City Cycling, for their work in developing the Complete Streets Proposal. This proposal, which was passed out of the Legislation Committee of the BOA with a unanimous favorable recommendation, would help the City transistion to the new reality of expensive $15/per gallon gas that may be just around the corner. 
If passed by the full Board, it would create a Steering Committee charged to develop a Complete Streets Policy, and create a Design Manual to guide in development of a policy to ensure equal, safe access for all motorists, cyclists and pedestrians in future developments; by, among other things: 

-re-establishing infrastructure for mass transit, 
-increasing bike lanes,
-instituting traffic-calming measures, and 
-stepping up enforcement of current traffic laws.
A large part of the goal would be to consider streets as public space for multiple uses and users; not simply as a conduit for cars to get from point A to point B. 

As a bicyclist who conducts virtually all of my aldermanic and personal business in New Haven by bicycle, I was asked by Erin to attend the committee hearing to show my support. 
For those who want to read the whole story by Melinda Tuhus in the Independent, here is the link:
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2008/09/a_proposal_for.php#comments
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HOOKER SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION
Last week I was taken on a tour of the Hooker school construction site by Bruce Freeman and Tom Dembinski of the R2D development corporation. Also on the tour were Susan Weisselberg, School Construction Manager of the BOE; Robert Rifenburg, the new principal of Hooker; and Evelyn Robles-Rivas, the assistant principal at 'little' Hooker.
We saw up close the excavations for the classrooms and the gymnasium; walked through the former church which is being extensively renovated for its new uses as the school's auditorium, and cafeteria; and walked through the passage way that will connect the classroom building with the former church.
The report from the construction folks is that the construction is on target for the September 2009 opening.
I have been working with many of my Everit Street neighbors, including people on both sides of the original site controversy, to insure that  neighborhood needs are being addressed. At present we are trying to save some of the large shade trees on the north and south boundaries; eliminate the before 7am construction mayhem; and encourage the construction landscape folks to put in a 'green wall' of low-maintenance plantings along the boundaries.
This week, Susan Weisselberg and I and two of the construction architects met with Everit neighbor, Robin Roush, to look at her green wall landscaping in her back yard. 
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OKTOBERFEST
In case you lost my previous mailing, here, again, are the Octoberfest highlights:
Sunday, October 5th, 4-9pm – OkTOBERFEST presented by Friends of East Rock Park
(rain date: October 12th)
College Woods in East Rock Park (at the corner of Orange St. and Cold Spring St.)
Our biggest event of the year!  Don’t miss this!
- Community Contra Dancing and Square Dancing led by Bill Fischer.
- Chili Cookoff Competition – Show up with chili at 4:30  if you wish to enter the contest.
- Farm Animals, Magician, Kids Games.
- EVERYONE WELCOME!  Please bring your own bowl, utensils and mug to reduce waste.
 For more info contact:
info at friendsofeastrockpark.org
Justin Elicker 203-500-2969 / Betty Thompson 203-785-9331
www.friendsofeastrockpark.org

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USEFUL CITY TELEPHONE NUMBERS
Police/Fire/Medical Emergency........................911
Non-Emergency Police Assistance..................946-6316
District Manager, Lt. Rebecca Sweeney……..946-7572
Block Watch/Crime Prevention.........................946-6298
Traffic Hotline for dirt bikes, etc….....………..946-6956

Mayor's Office.....................................................946-8200
Board of Aldermen Office..................................946-6483
Voter Registration...............................................946-8035
New Haven Library - Main Branch...................946-8130

Traffic and Parking…………………....……......946-8075
Towing Information...........................................946-6316

Parks & Recreation Issues................................946-8027
Livable City Iniative, Thelma Ragsdale..........946-7090
Household Hazardous Waste.........................401-2712
Streetlight Hotline.............................................931-6325
Recyclig..............................................................946-8053
Tree Limb Removal...........................................946-6971
Public Works Emergency (after hours)..........946-8334

Public Works Hotline: Trash Complaints/ Bulk Trash Pick-Up/ Potholes/ Sidewalks/ Graffiti/ StreetSweeping/ Snowplowing..............946-7700
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