Year in Review
By Robin Vinci at December 20, 2023 | 4:51 pm | Print
Top 5 New Britain Events of 2012
Each year the New Britain City Journal compiles the Top 5 news stories hitting the City.
This year it was pretty easy choosing the number 1 story.
1. Fees Imposed on Landlords
No single issue has taken place in New Britain in many years as big as the landlord issue facing the City.
Mayor Tim O’Brien imposed several fees on landlords this year including a “hot spot” fee and a $150 charge per unit fee (a change to that number is expected to pass Friday night).
This has caused a lot of controversy in the City. Landlords have said the fees would be passed to tenants, leave more empty places to rent, lower property values and affect the City economy.
The group filed a lawsuit against the City saying the ordinance was unconstitutional.
Landlords also fought back Nov. 14 rallying over 600 people at City Hall to speak against the proposal. The City held the public comment portion to 30 minutes prior to the meeting and then allowed speech after the meeting. The second part was not publicized for all to see on Nutmeg TV.
On Dec. 12 the council declared there was a compromise. The compromise, however, was not with the landlords fighting against it. Landlords said the compromise was with an attorney who was the prior state Democratic State Chairman.
On Friday a public hearing, followed by a council meeting, are planned to approve that compromise many landlords are calling a “farce”.
2. Ethics Complaint at City Hall
On Thursday Republican Town Chairman Dwight Blint filed an ethics complaint against Mayor Tim O’Brien. The complaint rises from an earlier New Britain City Journal story that questioned whether it was a conflict of interest for an Alderman’s wife to work in the mayor’s office. Also, at question, was how she was being paid. The mayor had stated various times that she was being paid by HUD funds when in reality she was being paid by the City budget.
Blint’s complaint is that either Alderman Rha-Sheen Brown voted for a budget in which he knew there was funding for his wife’s position or he was also lied to about the funding source by the mayor.
Somewhere in there appears to be an ethics problem in the mayor’s office.
3. Kelt Cooper Named Superintendent
New Britain named a new superintendent this year in Kelt Cooper of Del Rio, Texas.
Cooper was in a district that had an enrollment of 10,400 students and a budget of $100 Million. Cooper is bilingual and holds a Ph.D. (ABD, All But Dissertation), an M.A. and a B.A., all from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Past positions include Director of Technical Assistance, Office of English Language Acquisition Services, Arizona State Department of Education and Superintendent of the Nogales Unified School District #1 in Nogales, AZ.
Since his arrival July 1, Cooper has been changing several policies including how students learn English.
He said he has a motto he brings to his programs. It is “if it is worth doing at all, it’s worth doing exceptionally well.”
4. Former Mayor Stanley Pac Passes Away
Former Mayor Stanley Pac died Sept. 21, 2012 at the age of 89. He was a Democrat who served as mayor from 1971 to 1975, before being named by Gov. Ella Grasso commissioner of what was then the Department of Environmental Services. In 1983, he was named Man of the Year by the Polish American Business and Professional Association.
5. First Ever Halloween Safe Zone Event
It was estimated that over 5,000 people lined City streets Halloween night as the first ever Halloween Safe Zone event, sponsored by the New Britain City Journal and the Downtown District occurred.
The event saw nearly 20 businesses hand out candy to children, a costume parade and various locations across downtown holding a number of related activities.
People commented that downtown had not been that busy since Thursday night’s in the 1950s.
Groups such as the New Britain JR ROTC and Community Service Officers all helped make it a success.
