Students Visit Hartford City Hall, Speak on Their Experiences
Issue date: 4/28/09 Section: Features
On April 13, a group of Trinity students attended a special function at City Hall arranged by Professor Clyde McKee. Students were given the opportunity to have a question and answer session with Mayor Eddie Perez and then sat in on a city council proceeding. Those that attended the council meeting were exposed to parliamentary procedure at the professional level. The beginning of the proceedings moved quickly and caused some confusion among us. One of the most interesting and intensely debated items on the agenda was about using emergency city funds to keep the Salvation Army shelter. Hartford City Councilman Larry Duetsch adamantly defended the proposal, as he believed it was the city's duty to keep the shelter open for those who need it. He even called out Council President Calixto Torees for not caring about the local homeless population. Torres was obviously offended by this, and cited his past efforts to improve their situation. He said that in these economic times, the money should be saved in case the city faced a bigger emergency. However, the proposal to use the funds for the shelter passed, allowing the shelter to stay open until the end of April. The experience was great and we were able to not only see the innerworkings of the city council, but also got to witness a heated debate during the proceedings.
-Mike O'Connor '10
Trinity College may lack political enthusiasm and low turnouts during student elections, but those who chose to voice their opinions at the Hartford City Council were both motivated and enthusiastic. At one point, my classmates and I were able to see a particularly heated discussion between Councilman Duetsch and Council President Torres. Duetsch pushed to appropriate a portion of the new budget for a homeless shelter, but was promptly shut down by Torres. The discussion quickly gained momentum as Duetsch went on the offensive, calling Torres insensitive. Torres was quick to shut him down by explaining that he had already made a similar allocation earlier in the year.
-Mike O'Connor '10
Trinity College may lack political enthusiasm and low turnouts during student elections, but those who chose to voice their opinions at the Hartford City Council were both motivated and enthusiastic. At one point, my classmates and I were able to see a particularly heated discussion between Councilman Duetsch and Council President Torres. Duetsch pushed to appropriate a portion of the new budget for a homeless shelter, but was promptly shut down by Torres. The discussion quickly gained momentum as Duetsch went on the offensive, calling Torres insensitive. Torres was quick to shut him down by explaining that he had already made a similar allocation earlier in the year.
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