Committee postpones vote on resolution to retain Lottie’s Kitchen for North End Senior Center meals

A resolution authorizing the Hartford Department of Health and Human Services to continue to use Lottie’s Kitchen to prepare North End Senior Center lunches was postponed to the committee’s next meeting on Dec. 2 after council members requested additional contract and staffing details. Mayor Alan Lapelam introduced the resolution as item 2.2 on the agenda.

Director Ebony Jackson Shahid said Lottie’s Kitchen is a small business that has been working in the North End Senior Center kitchen; she explained that Lottie had been a cook for the prior operator, Blue Hills, and served as a sous chef for the operator T & J while Blue Hills held the contract. Shahid said when Blue Hills ceased operations, Lottie’s Kitchen continued providing meals and the city awarded a contract to Lottie’s Kitchen to avoid service disruption and maintain meals for seniors.

One committee member said he was "not comfortable at the moment voting on this resolution" and asked for more detail about how the transition occurred and whether other contractors were considered. A motion to postpone the resolution to the next committee meeting was made and seconded; the committee voted by voice and approved the postponement. The chair said the director and he will meet to discuss the resolution’s contents and provide additional information prior to Dec. 2.

No formal vote on awarding the contract to Lottie’s Kitchen took place at the Nov. 4 meeting; the item remains on the committee agenda for Dec. 2.