Aliyya Swaby File Photo
The mayor vetoed alders’ order to remove a member from the Board of Education — but had to withdraw her veto because she submitted it four days too late.
Mayor Toni Harp attempted to block a measure passed by the Board of Alders calling for the termination of ed board member Daisy Gonzalez’ term two years before it ends, by filing the veto with the City Clerk’s office Tuesday. Out of town at a symposium in Virginia early this week, she scanned her signature and sent it over to her staff to deliver to the Hall of Records on Orange Street, according to mayoral spokesman Laurence Grotheer.
The city charter allows the mayor 10 days to file a veto after receiving an order. The Board of Alders submitted the order to the clerk’s office Dec. 28, it reached the mayor Dec. 29, and she signed it 14 days later.
When staff in the mayor’s office realized their mistake, they withdrew the veto paperwork, said Grotheer. “Once a decision had been made to pursue [the veto], it took a while to get the documents together,” including the scanned signature from the mayor in Virginia, he said.
Alders voted to un-appoint Gonzalez to fix a glitch in the city charter that did not propose a way to decrease the number of Board of Education members from eight to seven as it switched to a hybrid board this January. Earlier in December, the Board of Ed passed a resolution to gradually shift to seven members by January 2017.
In the meantime, the Board of Ed is keeping Gonzalez and is prepared for legal battle if alders try to remove her.
Acting Corporation Counsel John Rose argued that the alders do not have the legal authority to remove Gonzalez, because the Board of Ed is governed by the state, not the city. He said legal precedent allows a board to have too many members.
The mayor supports that Board of Education decision, Grotheer said.
Since the mayor did not respond to the Board of Alders’ order within 10 days, it became “operative and effectual,” according to the city charter.
Grotheer said the mayor supports the Board of Ed’s “resolution to address the transition” over the period of a year by keeping eight members. The eight-member transition board had to postpone a vote on board vice-president Monday, because they tied 4 – 4.
“The next step is to go about the business of the Board of Ed,” Grotheer said.
For previous coverage:
• 4+4=Stalemate
• The Lawyers Win
• Separation Of Powers Battle Looms
• Schools Approve 8‑Member Transition Board
• Eyewitness to Blunder (Opinion)
• Bartlett: Goldson’s Wrong (Opinion)
• In Board Of Ed’s Math, 7=8 (Opinion)
• Schools Try To Fix Supersized Board
• Oops! New Board of Ed Illegally Supersized
To the editor:
The correct citation is not Section 1 , it is found in:
Sec. 4. - Special Act Authority to Adopt Ordinances, Resolutions and Orders.
B.
The Board of Alders shall have power by majority vote of the entire membership of the Board of Alders then eligible to vote, with the written approval of the Mayor, or over said Mayor's veto, as herein provided to enact, alter or repeal Ordinances to be called the "Ordinances of the City of New Haven"; and to make, alter and repeal Resolutions or Orders by a majority vote of the members of the Board of Alders present.
The fact that the Mayor failed to file a veto within ten days is a circumstance of her negligence. She knew it would not prevail.