One of the very few things that went right in City Hall last night was someone’s decision to bring in Officer Jimmy Barrett, the only police officer that has earned the trust of most people here. Truthfully, he was the only one needed and the many others in and outside of City Hall could have been dismissed since they served no function that I could see. They didn’t step in when a drunk guy holding the Israel flag and a “We Stand with Israel” sign yelled “Kill The Jews” just feet from the steps of the municipal building. They didn’t step in when someone called a woman wearing a hijab a murderer. Not when a person called two musicians “Hamas Quartet.” They didn’t step in when some guy followed me around yelling “Hitler Jew”, and continued trying to pick a fight. For the record, I have years of experience ignoring dudes yelling things at me on the street; the most satisfying response is to completely ignore them by not looking at or speaking with them. A person with an instrument walked over and literally drummed out the guy with pro-Israel accessories who was saying antisemitic nonsense to me. The police did not need to step in because pro-ceasefire activists provided marshals who maintained the peace.

The ineffective and large police presence really highlighted how much we spend on our own occupying force that at best does not improve conditions for anyone. Those who walk or bike to work regularly experience this in a more routine way, noticing how police will do nothing when motorists make left turns on red lights or drive up on the sidewalk while pedestrians are using it. This is not only a commentary on what was going on downtown on February 26, 2024. Last night just shined a spotlight on a lot of problems.

Not a single news report really captured how many people showed up, and how many were actual city residents versus those who do not live in Hartford. Instead, the coverage looks like it was ripped from the documentary Outfoxed, with reporters doing gymnastics to make it appear as if this was an issue with only two sides and that those sides were 50/50.

The doors to Council Chambers were closed before the public hearing began. Everyone else was squeezed in the halls; with the addition of people who draped themselves in flags it felt like Comic Con with vibes all the way off. I hadn’t gotten groped this much since being on a New York subway pre-pandemic. You could not move. You could not sit unless you wanted to risk being stepped on. If Connecticut Urbanists is looking for a site for their next install, I would recommend they add 4-6 benches just on this floor. Some of us already worked a full day and did not need to spend the next several hours standing. This is a rude ask to make of people who want to participate in democracy.

Beforehand, I had heard that those working inside City Hall were afraid of violence. This makes it sound like they did not understand what a ceasefire resolution was about. Someone taped to the walls pictures of people killed by the Israel military, and there were attempts by suburban guests to remove them. This was swiftly thwarted by government employees.

It was a hot mess, and inexplicably so, considering that on February 13, 2024, City Council had a preview of how many people cared about a ceasefire. After their shameful performance that included major tech fails and the seemingly illegal practice of selecting speakers out of order from the sign up sheet, one would expect that they would have prepared better for the meeting when the resolution was being introduced. Just as it appeared like the previous meeting was the first time City Council had ever used Zoom, last night gave the appearance of a City Council meeting for the first time in all of history.

It began with the sign up system. The form that they had been using so people could register to have three minutes to speak during public comment had circulated. After 28 people signed up, the form was closed. I know this because I received the message sent to me and 27 others — everyone’s email addresses visible — saying that “To be fair to everyone, people must sign up in-person.” That would have been fair if that was the standard set from the start and there was no form.

There was no clear time set for when sign up in person would begin, and what was known is that the suburban visitors were being rallied to arrive at 4:30 or sooner. I can’t give words to the feeling of disenfranchisement that comes with knowing that Hartford residents have not been able to speak because non-Hartford residents are taking up space. People who can’t vote for our municipal leaders should not even be allowed near the microphone. I don’t care how prominent of an out-of-town organization they represent.

Public comment began at 5:30 PM. To even arrive in time for that meant leaving work early for lots of folks — and that’s not a privilege that everyone is afforded. To arrive early enough to sign up is something else entirely. We have to ask whose voices aren’t being heard because of this whole system of allowing non-residents to speak at public comment, requiring in-person sign up, and not having anywhere to sit which discourages people from remaining however long it might take for them to have their turn.

And that’s if they got their turn. Most did not. There were 113 people signed up to speak. I was #31, I think, and was called about 15 minutes before public comment ended. When I addressed City Council — after having stood for about 2.5 hours, tired, lipstick all smudged from my mask — most of the politicians on the dais were having side conversations and not even listening. It was obvious that their decision to not decide had been made before anyone spoke.

You might be wondering: how does one know it’s time to speak when they aren’t even in the same room with City Council? Although they managed to get plenty of police on site, City Council did not do normal things to make this a smooth process. How did nobody decide to turn the giant first floor atrium into overflow seating with a screen set up to show public comment? If City Hall does not have access to this amount of portable seating, I’m sure they could have borrowed from the Hartford Public Library’s Center for Contemporary Culture.

Instead, people were told to smoosh themselves against the railing in order, despite not being given any sense of the order because there were multiple sign up stations. We were given the website to watch the meeting on our phones — not like you could hear anything over the noise of hundreds of people in a building with an echo. Sometimes an employee would come through with a laptop trying to explain where we were on the list, but you could not get a sense of when to expect to go in because sometimes people signed up but left before speaking. It seemed like some speakers were skipped over. If you needed to use the bathroom you risked losing your turn to speak. When someone came out and absolutely mangled my name — it was spelled correctly on the sheet though — I basically had to elbow my way past the bouncers and go into the Council Chambers, where there actually were a number of open seats. I wasn’t sure if I was three speakers away or next, so I didn’t take one. Information was sparse. As it turned out, I was right after the Hartford resident who was about 30 seconds from finished.

There were people who did not want to participate in what they were calling a symbolic vote, thinking that City Council should not deal with symbolism. City Council is heavily invested in symbolism. Let’s start with the fact that the decision-makers sit up on the dais, while the general public is below them in hard wooden chairs — or forced to stand for several hours just to get three minutes during which most of the City Council is not even looking at them. We could talk about how they do all of this in an ornate building when their function could happen just as well in a non-descript warehouse. Let’s talk about their flag. The fact that they are paid to do this job but the public is not paid to take hours of our time to participate in democracy. Symbolism is their love of flowery bullshit like being addressed in a particular way. When I spoke, I intentionally addressed several by only their first names. They are neighbors and I wanted them to remember that. Or, at the least, I wanted them to have to sit with the fact that actually they do love them some symbolism.

After public comment ended, there was a short break and then the business part of the meeting began/resumed. Within the hour, we saw more symbolism.

When it came time to vote on the ceasefire resolution (not “seize-fire” as WTNH wrote it) we learned a lot about who the different political parties are in Hartford — and the vote happened right along party lines:

Working Families Party: Yes, we believe in possibility and yes we believe we can try to make a difference.

Gale, Party of One: No, absolutely not, we can’t do anything meaningful.

Democrats: We had one job and we didn’t do it. When faced with a genocide in our lifetime, we chose to remain neutral. We chose to remain silent. We chose to not exercise the little power we have. We chose to worry about non-residents rather than Hartford residents. Who chose inaction. We are abstinence-only voters.

There’s a whole lot of symbolism right there.

The dysfunction revealed last night and over the last few weeks is about more than the ceasefire resolution. There are serious questions raised about the competence of the current Council President, along with questions about who City Council is serving and if they are able to handle something as simple as running a public comment session. There are questions about their ability to use current technology. There are glaring accessibility issues inside the building itself between inadequate seating and poor lighting. And there is the question of why the general public should vote if our own electeds can’t be bothered to do so.