Paul Bass Photo
Lewis
A wrongfully convicted man will get his multimillion-dollar settlement and the Board of Education will get its newest members thanks to votes Monday night by the Board of Alders.
During a meeting Monday at City Hall, alders unanimously OK’d the Harp administration’s plan for paying Scott Lewis the $9.5 million settlement that a court has ruled the city owes him. The city agreed to pay the money after failing to convince a judge to throw out a federal wrongful conviction lawsuit filed by Lewis, who spent 18 years in prison on murder charges trumped up by a New Haven police detective.
The settlement came in July after the city had wrapped its budget process for fiscal 2017 – 2018 in June. The vote by alders Monday amended the city’s capital budget to find the funds to cover the settlement’s cost. The bulk of the money, about $6.35 million, comes from the Grand Avenue Bridge project and will have to be refunded when the state is ready to advance that project. The rest comes from delaying capital purchases in other departments. The city also had to take action because it was required to pay Lewis by Nov. 15.
Markeshia Ricks
Cotto
Mayor Toni Harp’s pick to replace the Board of Education President Daisy Gonzalez, Jamell Cotto, got his final approval from alders in a separte vote Monday night. Gonzalez died unexpectedly in July. The board has been deadlocked since her death; Cotto’s appointment gives members who side with Mayor Harp (at least for now) a majority.
Cotto rose as a political figure in the city when he ran to unseat elected Board of Ed member Ed Joyner. He withdrew from the race during the Democratic Party convention ahead of the September primary. Harp subsequently selected him to serve out the rest of Gonzalez’s term, which expires on Dec. 31, 2018.
Hill Alder Dolores Colon serves on the Aldermanic Affairs Committee, which recommended Cotto’s appointment to the full Board of Alders. She said that “the committee found him to be an admirable problem solver who will make every effort to bring the Board of Education to shared agreeable solutions.”