Markeshia Ricks Photo
Jamell Cotto, at right, observing the vote.
The Board of Alders Tuesday night voted 18 – 8 to reject the reappointment of Jamell Cotto to the Board of Education.
The vote, which took place at the regular twice-monthly alders meeting at City Hall, was a setback for the Harp administration.
Mayor Toni Harp’s nomination of Cotto to serve a second term became a flashpoint in New Haven’s ongoing political fighting over the public schools. A previous alder committee hearing on the reappointment lasted three hours, with dozens of passionate speakers on both sides. An activist group called New Haven Public School Advocates organized opposition to Cotto, blasting him as unqualified, unresponsive to parents, laden with conflicts of interest, disrespectful to fellow board members, and politically motivated in his decision-making. Cotto supporters praised him as an innovative, compassionate, dedicated leader who represents the city’s Latino and African-American student populations and who needs more than a year-and-a-half to leave his mark on the Board of Ed. (Read a full story about that hearing here.)
Tuesday night’s debate and vote at the Board of Alders, by contrast, took only two minutes. Only two alders spoke, both in favor of Cotto: Hill Alder Evelyn Rodriguez spoke of the many young people Cotto has mentored.
Fair Haven Alder Kenneth Reveiz pointed out in his floor remarks that New Haven Public Schools is now a majority Latino district and there should be someone on the board who represents a demographic that is the only one in the district with a trend toward growth.
Upper Westville Alder Darryl Brackeen requested a roll call vote. The eight alders who supported Cotto were Hacibey Catalbasoglu, Ron Hurt, Evelyn Rodriguez, David Reyes, Gerald Antunes, Kenneth Reveiz, Ernie Santiago, and Jose Crespo.
The 18 alders opposed were Frank Douglass, Abbie Roth, Aaron Greenberg, Charles Decker, Anna Festa, Renee Haywood, Rosa Santana, Jodi Ortiz, Sal DeCola, Delphine Clyburn, Steve Winter, Jeanette Morrison, Tyisha Walker-Myers, Adam Marchand, Richard Furlow, Darryl Brackeen, Jill Marks, and Brian Wingate.
Alder Michelle Edmonds-Sepulveda abstained. Alders Kim Edwards and Dolores Colon were both absent.
Not Giving Up
Alder Kenneth Reveiz: Latino student majority needs representation.
Cotto was in attendance for the alders’ Tuesday vote along with other prominent Latino leaders, including State Rep. Juan Candelaria. Cotto said that he’d been calling alders ahead of the vote and he knew it was going to be a tough night.
He said representing Latino students wasn’t his sole reason for seeking to be reappointed to a full term, but it was an important factor.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done,” Cotto, who currently serves as the Board of Ed’s vice chair. “I’ve been on a year. I feel like I deserve a full term and it’s my belief that there’s a proxy war going on against Mayor Harp and I’m caught in the crossfire. It’s obvious.”
Despite the failed attempt at reappointment Thursday, Cotto and his supporters are holding out hope that the mayor might make another attempt. In addition to possibly finding Cotto’s replacement, she is to appoint someone to the seat vacated by Frank Redente.
When asked whether the mayor would attempt to reappoint Cotto, her Chief of Staff Tomas Reyes said, “probably.”
Cotto said he too is holding out hope that the mayor will make another attempt to appoint him to the board.
“I need a chance to serve my community. I need a full term. I’m educated. I’ve been doing nonprofit work for a long time. I’m a New Havener. My kids have gone through the system. I’ve gone through the system. I think what happened tonight was a little unfair.”
He said the alders were swayed by what he characterized as a “list of lies” developed by the New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) Advocates parent group.
Furlow: “Zero Calls” In Support
Alder Evelyn Rodriguez speaks in favor of Cotto.
Despite the growth of the school system’s Latino student population and the show of support for Cotto from the Latino community, Beverly Hills/Amity Alder Richard Furlow, who also is the board majority leader, said he and his colleagues didn’t hear from people when it counted.
He said he heard from a few dozen constituents in his ward alone opposed to Cotto’s reappointment.
And how many supporters?
“Zero calls for his reappointment,” he said.
Furlow said he didn’t lobby for or against Cotto’s reappointment with his colleagues but encouraged them to “vote their conscience.” But he noted that in the multi-hour committee hearing, Furlow said he heard a lot about Cotto’s character and his work as a mentor, but very little about his qualifications to serve on the Board of Ed.
“The community is actually calling for the whole board to be dismantled,” Furlow said. “It’s been dysfunctional. But this no vote tonight is not this board’s attempt to dismantle the Board of Ed.”
Though Cotto’s camp is hoping for another shot at reappointment, Furlow and board President Tyisha Walker-Myers said their understanding is that the charter might not allow that. The mayor has 60 days to make another appointment. Furlow said if she fails to make that appointment, the Board of Alders will make the appointment.
“The People Spoke”
Robert Gibson.
If the mayor is looking for new candidates, NHPS Advocates hope she’ll consider the list of potential replacements that they’ve already submitted, said group organizer Sarah Miller.
“It’s unfortunate that we had to be opposed to somebody,” Miller said. “It’s not the position that anyone wanted to be in but we really feel like the Board of Ed can do better. There are people in a better position to serve our kids. There’s a lot of really good people, a lot of talented people in the city who are ready to serve our Board of Ed — black, white, Hispanic.”
She encouraged Harp to “work with the community to come up with someone we can all believe in. We’re ready to meet with anybody, not just pushing one candidate in particular, lots of different people who would do a great job on the Board of Ed.”
Schools advocate Robert Gibson, a retired Hillhouse High School educator, called Tuesday’s alder vote a victory for democracy.
“The people spoke,” he said. “They contacted their alders and the alders responded. I think that’s important. I think it’s important that the alders listen to the people more than listening to the mayor. If the people and the mayor agree, [alders] should represent that. When they’re in dispute or disagreement with the policy or recommendation or nomination of a person the people don’t agree with that the alderman have that check authority.
“Then that is democracy functioning,” he added. “That’s what we need.”
Gibson said he had two objections to Cotto’s reappointment: He believed that the Board of Ed needs more educators. And Cotto’s connection to Farnam House, which he runs and which does business with the public schools, was a conflict of interest. He said having three people on the board with strong connections to that one organization “didn’t pass the smell test.”
Cotto serves as the executive director of Farnam House. Tamiko Jackson MacArthur serves as Farnam board president. Frank Redente, who recently resigned from the board, was a longtime employee.
“A lot of people’s alarms would go off with three people from one organization be it a church, a fraternity or sorority,” Gibson said. “There’s enough diversity in New Haven. We don’t have to minimize our selection to one agency.”
He said he hopes that the mayor will choose someone more like the late Daisy Gonzalez, whom Cotto replaced on the board.
“If the mayor goes back to making another political appointment or trying to reappoint Jamell Cotto, that would be a slap in peoples’ face,” he said.