The Hartford City Council’s virtual public hearing on the charter revision commission’s recommendations was shut down Tuesday after questions arose as to whether the hearing was legal under the state’s freedom of information law.
The issue of police staffing, and whether at some point it has an actual impact on crime, cropped up again at the City Council meeting Monday evening during a discussion of filling a vacant assistant police chief position.
During the home stretch of the grueling 2023 budget discussions last week, the Hartford City Council weighed several proposals that call for shifting some funds from the police department to other city departments, all in the name of public safety.
Three city councilors took the unusual position of abstaining from voting on a replacement to Hartford’s Charter Revision Commission on Monday evening following a pointed discussion on concerns about the commission’s transparency.