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Hartford council approves settlement in Joseph Mitchell lawsuit after procedural debate
Summary
The Hartford City Council approved a resolution to settle Joseph Mitchell v. City of Hartford after a procedural exchange about whether the measure could be reconsidered; the measure passed on a roll call vote (6–3).
The Hartford City Council voted to approve a resolution settling the lawsuit Joseph Mitchell v. City of Hartford after a brief procedural exchange about whether the item could be reconsidered. The council adopted the resolution on the supplemental agenda by roll call.
The vote followed questions from council members about procedure. Council Member (identified in the transcript as Unidentified Speaker 5) asked, “Why can't we just reconsider this item and then take a vote on the reconsideration and then we bring it back?” Corporation Counsel (Unidentified Speaker 4) responded, “Technically, a motion for reconsideration has to be made on the same within the same session ... being that we were adjourned at the last meeting and it is no longer the same calendar day, it would be inappropriate to take it up as a reconsideration ... I could not find anything that indicated that in 6 months you cannot bring an old resolution for reconsideration ... this is the new resolution on the agenda.”
After counsel’s advice, the council proceeded to a roll call vote. The clerk recorded the following votes: Councilwoman Bilodeau — Yes; Councilman Clark — No; Councilman Gayle — Yes; Councilman Hernandez — Yes; Councilman Mickham — Yes; Councilwoman Rosado — Yes; Councilwoman Rosetti — No; Council President Surgeon — No; Councilman Thomas — Yes. The item passed on the recorded vote.
The action was taken from the supplemental agenda (item 8.1). The transcript indicates the item had been discussed at a prior meeting and then was returned to the agenda as a new resolution rather than a motion to reconsider. The council did not read terms of the settlement aloud in the recorded discussion; the motion on the floor and the recorded roll call are the formal actions documented in the meeting.
The council moved on to announcements and adjourned. The body did not specify an effective date of the settlement in the recorded discussion and did not include further detail in the meeting minutes read during the session.
