Shayne Livingston took office as the New Britain City Council’s Clerk of Committees, despite a veto of a resolution concerning his appointment by Mayor Erin Stewart (R) – a veto with key inaccuracies.
The Council voted 8 to 7, on party lines, on a motion to override Stewart’s veto on Wednesday, but the motion required 10 votes and, therefore, failed. There are 8 Democrats and 7 Republicans on the Council.
But the veto, and especially the vote to sustain it by Council Republicans, were moot. Livingston had already been sworn into office last Friday.
In her veto message, Stewart accused Council Democrats of having, “deliberately ignored the very clear requirements of Chapter 4, Section 9 of the Charter, which requires participation of both parties in the hiring of Council Staff.”
That charter provision says that, “Each staff member deemed necessary to carry out the Common Council’s legislative function shall be appointed by a majority decision of the President Pro Tempore, and the Majority and Minority leaders.”
Stewart defended her accusation by stating Ald. Beloin-Saavedra (R-1), who Stewart referred to, in her veto message, as the, “Minority Leader,” said she was not consulted in the selection of Livingston.
But the Council Minority Leader, according the the city’s website, is actually Ald. Robert Smedley (R-4), not Beloin-Saavedra.
And, the Council President Pro Tempore, Ald. Francisco Santiago (D-5), who had been the one who proposed Livingston for the position, had consulted with Smedley before the resolution on Livingston was voted. The Council Majority Leader, Ald. John McNamara (D-4), the third of the three, of whom the charter requires a majority to agree on the appointment, also agreed.
So the charter requirement that the appointment be, “by a majority decision of the President Pro Tempore, and the Majority and Minority leaders,” had been met, making the resolution on Livingston’s appointment effectively symbolic and ceremonial.
The position of Clerk of Committees provides staff support at Council committee meetings, and has historically been appointed by the Council’s majority party, including the appointment of Republican partisans, chosen when Republicans have been in the majority on the Council.
Stewart, with a history of acerbically-worded veto messages, repeatedly evoked partisanship in her veto of the resolution concerning Livingston, and even attacked Livingston’s capabilities for the position.
But, on Friday, October 4th, Livingston was sworn into office by Town and City Clerk Mark Bernacki, despite a veto that turned out to not be a veto, after all.
