By Jack Krampitz and David Fortier
Two Democratic candidates in this year’s municipal elections took turns challenging the mayor on his stance regarding racism during public participation at Tuesday’s city council meeting held at the Bristol Board of Education.
“As a leader in this community,” said Scott Rosado, “I can say racism has no place. I don’t understand why you have yet to say the word, “racism,” especially in our Bristol community where we have such a diverse population.”
Rosado is the endorsed Democratic candidate who will face incumbent Republican Mayor Jeffrey Caggiano in this year’s municipal elections this November.
When faced with several incidents involving white supremacist literature and a white supremacist rally on Rt. 72, Caggiano has denounced hate, in general, but not white supremacy nor racism, specifically.
“It’s been here,” Rosado said in addressing the mayor and city council, “and amongst yourselves, you may be content with what’s going on, or what’s been done this far. However, we need a plan moving forward.”
Rosado addressed two other issues, one dealing with the lack of a concession at Saturday’s night’s inaugural show at the Rockwell Theater and one dealing with a potential business seeking to contract with the city, who up until recently could not get a meeting with the mayor.
“I don’t understand why something as simple as this is not resolved,” Rosado said about the concessions. “In fact, I encourage you to make a referral to the ordinance committee tonight.”
The mayor pointed out that the concession issue requires the agreement of the Board of Education, and they were working on having an agreement before the next show in October.
Rosado concluded, “Leadership is a cornerstone of any thriving community. “It sets the tone for progress inclusivity and shared prosperity. It is the responsibility of local leaders, including our mayor, to champion our community’s values, listen to our concerns and take action for the greater good.”
A second Democratic candidate, Morris “Rippy” Patton, who is running in the 2nd District, expressed disappointment with the mayor’s response to the recent press conference called by Democrats to address the presence of white supremacists and racism in Bristol.
“Your comment in the newspaper said the fight against racism should not be a political event. I seem to have to tell you face-to=face that racism will never be a political event,” Patton said. “It will always be extremely personal to the people that have to suffer from it and deal with it every day.”
In response to the press conference Caggiano has asked publicly why he wasn’t invited, and Patton took a moment to address that comment.
“The purpose of that event was all about you and for your acceptance and low-keyed promotion of racism in Bristol,” Patton said. “I’m not sure how you missed that.”
Patton concluded, “You, unfortunately, have become for a lot of us, the face of racism. And I yield the rest of my time to give you the opportunity to say why you shouldn’t be.”
Mayor Jeffrey Caggiano, left, at the dais of the city council meeting and Morris “Rippy” Patton, right, addresses the mayor and council members during public participation at Tuesday’s city council meeting. | Laura Bailey
In response to Patton, the mayor thanked him for his comments and referred to an announcement that would come later in the program.
When that moment came, Caggiano pointed to a sign posted behind him on the wall above his seat on the dais, referring to an initiative underway in the schools—an anti-hate program, which he also announced with a photo with school personnel and himself on the Mayor’s Office Facebook page.
“I am very proud that the superintendent reached out to me in the middle of last week and asked if we would join their continuous stand against hate, and so you see the sign behind me was a very nice gesture by the Bristol Public Schools to say let’s get together and put that out.”
He ended by saying he was against hate in all its forms and that what he liked about the initiative was that it started with the youngest students.
“We’re starting at the youngest ages,” he said, “with our next generation to make sure that we move forward to denounce it wherever we see it, so I believe that racism is a form of hatred.”
In other business, the councilors discussed the city’s code enforcement efforts and the mayor, after months of delay, named several people to the Diversity Council.
Regarding code enforcement, the city has been busy, said 2nd District Councilwoman Susan Tyler. As a consequence of the action some homeowners have been caught in the middle. In particular, Tyler proposed that citations against an older couple be forgiven and applied to any lien.
The city’s “Clean and Lien” program identifies properties that in disrepair, cites them, and if the property owner does not take action, cleans the property and applies a lien for the cost of cleanup.
“There was definitely a disconnect,” Tyler said, “and again, we are not just trying to increase our general fund with ‘Clean and Lien. The homeowners, I believe, are very open to the assistance that the ‘Clean and Lien’ is going to do. And I just feel that the $2,200 in tickets that were paid should be applied to the credit.”
The council approved the motion.
The Diversity Council has become a lightning rod for the mayor lately, especially in light of the discussions about his response to the presence of white supremacist literature and propaganda as well as an in-person rally held on Rt. 72, and how the council has had a number of resignations since he was elected.
“We’ve had a working relationship, both Jaymie (Bianco, Diversity Council chair) and I, who became the chair eight months ago, “ the mayor said, “and one of the things that we talked about is that we lost quite a few members so we wanted to make sure we had good communication, and that all individuals that were going to come on, were going to be committed to the Diversity Council.”
According to the mayor, there is one open seat waiting to be filled on the Diversity Council.
“If people are interested, we continue to encourage people to reach out to the mayor’s office,” Caggiano said.
When an anticipated appointment to the City Arts and Culture Commission was raised, the mayor said, “We decided to hold off on that.”
In his comments at the beginning of the council meeting, Caggiano led a moment of silence for both 9/11 and the Harford police officer who recently was killed in a car crash while on duty.
In the Joint meeting prior to the council meeting, business revolved around approving $20 million as part of the city’s capital improvement program.
In her report, Comptroller Diane Waldron (sp) said, to put things in context, $13 million was for Edgewood School.
“The net funding was a little over $15 million,” she said, “and again, that would be bonded over the life of the project, of all of the projects, as projects are being completed.”
She said the city will not be issuing payment for these projects tomorrow.
“It’ll probably be over the next couple of years,” she said, “and will be issued in accordance with cash flow.”
She added that revenue from taxes over the first two months of the new fiscal year are keeping pace with last year.
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