What’s the best way to divide New Haven into two new voting districts?
A Board of Alders committee will soon tackle that question, thanks to a vote Monday evening.
The full board voted to convene the joint Aldermanic Affairs/Education Committee to come up with a plan to fill a new requirement of the recently revised city charter.
The city went through a special decennial process last year to revise the city’s charter, which is like a municipal constitution. In a citywide referendum, New Haveners voted to create two elected seats on the Board of Education.
The revised charter states that the Board of Alders is responsible for creating a process to elect those two new Board of Ed members. They are to be elected from two new voting districts.
The revised charter also mandates the Board of Alders to create a new and improved Civilian Review Board. Alders voted Monday night to begin that process as well, by assigning the task to the joint Legislation/Public Safety Committee.
The Civilian Review Board is responsible for oversight of police activity. During the charter revision process, people called for a board with more power to investigate and make changes. The Civilian Review Board cannot, by law, have subpoena power, as people had requested.
Increasing size produces increased cost. Why can't we find ways to decrease the size of the NH government?