By Amanda Webster

In a moment of noise-clouded haste, the New Britain common council passed the “hot spot” ordinance Thursday night without any debate from the council.

A special meeting was called by Mayor Timothy O’Brien early on Thursday and he said that the council would be voting on the “hot spot” ordinance along with a new ordinance that will set a flat-rate fee of $150 that will be charged to landlords, which effectively will be passed down to tenants.

Both ordinances can have a direct impact on off-campus CCSU students.  This revised version of the “hot spot” ordinance allows the city to charge every property that receives as few as five police or fire responses in a year the city costs for the properties which receive the highest number of emergency responses, all at the discretion of the police who are called to the scene.

The majority of people at the meeting were there to oppose the flat-rate fee for landlords. Students from CCSU were there showing concern for both ordinances. Some held signs that said, “CCSU Blue Devils are not cash cows.”

The meeting was originally scheduled for Oct. 10. According to the New Britain Herald, O’Brien ordered the change in date and time and let the aldermen know Wednesday afternoon. There are no public hearings during special meetings.

The meeting room was packed with about 200 people, most of whom opposed the ordinances. Some people wielded For Sale signs signifying that if the ordinance were to pass they would consider leaving their property. Others had duct tape covering their mouths to show that the public had no say in what the city council would vote on.

Alderman Jamie Giantonio made a motion at the beginning of the meeting to suspend the normal meeting rules and allow members of the public a time slot of two minutes to speak. After some deliberation the motion was denied, prompting angry-cat calling from the room.

O’Brien had to rap his gavel several times and remind the public to quiet down. Giantonio addressed the outbursts before he began his debate on the issue.

“Comments like that do not help this cause,” said Giantonio. “There are people on this council that you will not agree with tonight and there are people on this council you will agree with. We will disagree but we will disagree respectfully.”

Giantonio was one of four aldermen who opposed the annual fee for landlords.

“This is not just something that’s going to adversely impact multiple families, but it’s going to impact everyone’s value in the city of New Britain,” Giantonio said.

“If we pass this, it may not seem like it’s an awful lot but that is going to be passed down to the tenants,” continued Giantonio. “Some of these people are just barely making it.”

According to the councilmen the landlord fee has been brought up at prior meetings and the public had their chance to add feedback.

The annual fee was passed 11 – 4, causing an uproar in the crowd. Most of the chamber emptied quickly after. During the upset with the public the council proceeded to vote on the “hot spot” ordinance. There was no debate and the ordinance was passed with the same 11 – 4 vote. Giantonio went on the record to show that he also opposed the “hot spot” ordinance.

Aldermen Pabon, Carlozzi and Centeno also voted against the ordinances.

Some CCSU students thought that it was unfair that they didn’t have the right to speak and thought the last minute meeting change was a desperate measure. They were also frustrated that most of the public didn’t seem to realize that the second ordinance was being passed.

Michelle Zohlman, a CCSU student that lives off-campus and an SGA senator, attended the meeting and said she was disappointed in the outcome.

“I did not like the way it was held and that it was a very last minute meeting, which shows how it was meant to be kind of sneaky and to get their way,” said Zohlman. “It wasn’t very democratic of them.”

SGA President Eric Bergenn was also at the meeting and was frustrated with the council and the entire process that the ordinance went through.

“It’s atrocious,” said Bergenn, addressing the last minute nature of the meeting. “It laughs in the face of democracy. They knew how we were against this. They knew it was probably the least popular thing they could do to raise that money but they’re running out of time so they tried to slip it in without anyone noticing.”

Despite the passing of both ordinances Bergenn said that he didn’t think the passing of them would hinder future students from living around campus.

Both city ordinances will go into effect immediately.