Thomas Breen Photos
Elicker (at left): “Rev. Kimber is not on the council.” Kimber (at right): “I’m still on it.”
Mayor Justin Elicker appointed someone to replace the Rev. Boise Kimber to co-chair a city early-education council.
At least he thought he had. Kimber is still running the group.
That standoff is taking place over the co-chairmanship of the New Haven Early Childhood Council. The council, appointed by the mayor and schools superintendent, is New Haven’s version of a state-sanctioned “school readiness council.” It was established to offer advice to government on preschool policy, allocate state-funded School Readiness slots to local education providers, and spend grant money.
The Elicker-Kimber tussle remains at a standstill while a more immediate concern preoccupies the city — keeping people alive during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Eventually, Kimber’s lawyer said, the matter could end up in court. Meanwhile, the matter hints at a potential realignment of power in city governmental and political affairs.
The disagreement began on March 6, when Kimber, a politically influential Newhallville minister, received a letter from city Corporation Counsel Patricia King.
King informed Kimber that his appointment as co-chair of the Early Childhood Council is invalid. She cited Section 10 – 16r of the state General Statutes concerning school readiness councils. The section states the the “chief elected official of the town .. and the superintendent of schools … shall jointly appoint and convene the council.”
Former Mayor Toni Harp appointed Kimber to serve on the council. Kimber was an influential backer of Harp, and one of her most visible supporters when she ran against Elicker in last fall’s mayoral election. Elicker won that election. Kimber was a confidante and key political supporter of the previous two mayors, making him a powerbroker in city government agencies ranging from the police department to the Board of Education. He does not enjoy the same relationship with Elicker.
The state statute also gives the mayor the right to designate the chair(s) of the school readiness council. Harp designated Kimber as co-chair. Click here to read about a recent meeting the council held at Kimber’s church to explore why more parents don’t take advantage of pre-school opportunities. Click here for a story about Kimber’s efforts to convince the city to sell a piece of land next to his church where he hopes to have a multi-generational community center built, including an early-childhood component.
Elicker’s and King’s position is that Kimber’s appointments to the council were invalid because the mayor made it alone rather than with the superintendent; and that since the mayor gets to designate a co-chair, Elicker can now choose someone else — even if Kimber were still a valid member of the council, which City Hall argues he is not.
Elicker and Superintendent of Schools Iline Tracey offered renewed appointments to council members, minus Kimber. Kimber’s co-chair, Sherri Killins Stewart, was again designated a co-chair. But instead of Kimber, United Way President Jennifer Heath was designated the other co-chair.
The council subsequently held its March meeting by Zoom, because of the Covid-19 shutdown. Kimber and Killins ran the meeting.
Heath attended and participated. She said she didn’t see a need to press the issue of co-chairmanship at the meeting. She said her reason for participating on the council is to work together with other people and agencies to boost early childhood education, a goal on which she already devotes much of her energy at United Way. “It’s something I care deeply about. It’s such important work. It takes so many organizations coming together to make it work better,” she said Tuesday.
Kimber told the Independent he intends to continue serving as chair of the council until his term expires in December 2021. He chaired the monthly meeting that took place after receipt of the letter.
“I’m still on it,” Kimber told the Independent. “He couldn’t put me off a board.”
Kimber hired attorney John Williams to represent him in the matter. In a March 11 letter to King, Williams argued that the mayor lacks the authority to remove Kimber from the council. He acknowledged King’s citation of the Section 10 – 16r. He added that the provision further provides that the mayor and superintendent each selects a representative to the council, and Kimber was Harp’s choice. He also acknowledged that the provision allows the mayor to appoint the chairperson of the council — which Harp did before she left office. Elicker “does not have the power to remove the chairperson,” Williams wrote. “If Mayor Elicker intends to challenge Dr. Kimber’s right to occupy his positions, this matter will be resolved in court.”
Williams reiterated that intention in a conversation Monday.
“I’m hoping they regain common sense here. They have larger fish to fry. But if they want to fight I am very comfortable fighting,” Williams said.
Asked about the situation Tuesday, Elicker said, “Rev. Kimber is not on the council and is not a co-chair.”
Kimber was “not unappointed as chair,” Elicker stated. “Mayor Harp appointed Rev. Kimber as her designee. I am not appointing Rev. Kimber as my designee. The superintendent and I have properly appointed members. I have properly appointed two co-chairs.”
According to data collected by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the percentage of New Haven’s kindergarteners who went to pre-kindergarten has been plummeting. It dropped from a high of 71.5 percent in 2010 to a low of 54.0 percent in 2015.
I think the mayor made the right decision here, and I hope he does not back down.