In light of what she termed “aggressive confrontation, insulting, personal attacks and intimidation” that “flagrantly violated” the rules of legislative conduct, Alder Jeanette Morrison Monday called for a formal review of Alder Mike Stratton’s recent behavior.
Morrison, who represents the Dixwell neighborhood, made that request Monday in a letter to Board of Alders President Jorge Perez. She asked Perez to review Stratton’s “grossly inappropriate actions” at two recent Finance Committee meetings on March 6 and 31, in which Stratton got into a yelling match with Alder Andrea Jackson-Brooks, the chair of the committee. (Click on the top video above for a sample from this meeting. The second video shows their confrontation at this meeting.)
Click here to read Morrison’s letter; here to read Stratton’s reply, in which he offered an “apology” to “the public” while stating he will “not apologize to those alders that interfere with my rights and the publics right to real debate and democracy” and adding a shot at city “Chief of Staff and Oxford Resident Tomas Reyes.”
Melissa Bailey Photo
Morrison.
Stratton spoke out of turn, defied a committee chair’s orders, failed to show courtesy to his colleagues, and engaged in “violent, tumultuous, threatening or deceitful or fraudulent language or behavior,” all of which are violations of the “Guidelines for Aldermanic Conduct” of the Rules of the Board of Alders, Morrison (pictured) asserted.
According to the board’s rules, alders can face a punishment ranging from a verbal reprimand to expulsion from the board for violating those rules.
Morrison said she is not calling for a censure or official reprimand. She did ask for the following consequences: That Stratton issue a written apology and read it aloud to Alder Andrea Jackson-Brooks and the Finance Committee; that he sign a deal agreeing to abide by the rules of conduct; and that if he “yells at colleagues or the public or uses derogatory language” at a public meeting, that he be booted from that meeting and asked to resign from the committee. If he does not resign from the committee, she further suggested, Perez should consider removing him.
“Democracy thrives in a climate of lively debate, and give-and-take, but Alder Stratton has repeatedly crossed the line in a virtually unprecedented way,” Morrison wrote. “I encourage and welcome Ald. Stratton to continue to express himself, whether I agree with him or not, but just not in a manner that is verbally insulting and threatening to me and other colleagues. If continued, his repeated outbursts threaten to undermine and obstruct the Board’s ability to effectively carry out its legislative duties on behalf of the citizens of New Haven.”
Two citizens, Rev. James Newman and Jan Parker, also submitted letters to the board criticizing Stratton’s conduct. (Stratton and Newman have sat down and discussed the matter privately since he wrote the letter.)
Thomas MacMillan File Photo
Stratton was not present at Monday’s Board of Alders meeting. He issued a written reply Monday evening in which he admitted some wrongdoing, but stood his ground.
“I will not ask for any alder to be censured for their frankly abhorrent behavior towards me, as these issues are best resolved privately,” Stratton wrote. “I readily admit to frustration and some undignified interactions at two of the 30 plus meetings I have attended. And I extend an apology to the public, they deserve better from me. But I will not apologize to those alders that interfere with my rights and the public’s right to real debate and democracy.”
Stratton said the official legislative transcript shows he was deprived of his right to ask questions and participate in the meeting.
“If Alder Morrison wants a full hearing on conduct,” he further wrote, “this should be a full investigation of all alder conduct done by an outside citizen commission not the alders who at this point are controlled by a super majority of so called ‘union alders’. Allowing the super majority to do an investigation of a member of the small minority is a recipe for grave injustice and disrespect for our local governance.”
Reached after Monday’s board meeting, Perez said he had not yet read Morrison’s letter. He said his first step would be to review the complaint and “to see if it can be fixed or addressed.”
If not, he said, he would send the matter to the Aldermanic Affairs committee.
After the meeting, Morrison stressed that she does not wish to quash dissent. “I like opposing views of things. … I don’t invite derogatory conduct. The opposing — that’s good! I love it.”
This is a case for two things: 1) mediation. Why not sit down and talk this out with the help of a mediator. Whatever your differences may be, they can be voiced, heard, and even solved with the help of a third party while setting an example to youth.
2) Wouldn't it be awesome to share effective conflict and communication techniques with all of the alderman? How about techniques for more effective meetings. Politics aside, we do best when we learn to treat each other with respect, hear each other despite the words chosen, and to be present to each other with a deep sense of empathy. These are skills we all need and benefit from when used in all our interactions.
More so, I am deeply concerned about the message these very public displays send to our youth about how to resolve conflict. What message is being taught to youth about civil discourse and how we solve our conflicts peacefully, nonviolently, and with deep respect for others. If you want peace from our youth, the adults around them would do best to model the behavior for them. I would request all of the Alderman invest more energy into modeling to our youth healthier ways to solve conflict then what I have seen in these videos.
I fully get how hard it is to do what I am asking. I also think we just need to start doing this for the sake of our youth. Teach by modeling peace! Marshall Rosenberg says "all violence stems from people being tricked into believing that other people are the source of our pain and therefore need to be punished". Punishment has long been seen by researchers as the source of violence. This crusade to "make 'em pay" is just the thinking Marshall wanted to address. We need to starting talking about how to hear each other, support each other, and meet each others needs. We do not need more punishment based thinking. We need more restorative practices that heal and set examples for youth about the restorative ways to address our differences and conflicts.