HARTFORD, Conn. (WTIC) – Monday marked the first Hartford City Council meeting of the month of March, which began with the annual State of the City address from the Mayor.
Making his third State of the City address since taking office, Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin spoke on the positives for the City while identifying areas of needed improvement moving forward.
Most notably, he announced Hartford is on-track to finish this year not only on budget, but able to set money aside to fund future capital investments and begin rebuilding the city’s reserves.
He noted the dire situation of the budget crisis when taking office and thanked the collaborative work of the City and its departments to now have financial stability.
In areas of needed improvement, the Mayor highlighted three key issues – youth homelessness, youth violence and chronic absenteeism.
With youth homelessness, Mayor Bronin highlighted the positive work done by the Coordinated Access Network with Journey Home at the center, which has helped reduce homelessness by nearly 70% in the Hartford region since 2015.
Moving forward, the Mayor says the City will direct their most intense focus on combating youth homelessness this year.
Last year, the Mayor began a comprehensive campaign to combat youth homelessness with the Greater Hartford Youth Engagement Team Initiative (YETI), which is a coalition of agencies working to make youth homelessness rare, brief and nonrecurring.
Additionally, in April, the Coordinated Access Network will launch a regional 100 Day Challenge to reduce youth homelessness and the Mayor stated he wants Hartford to lead the way.
In regards to youth violence, the Mayor announced Hartford has put in place a rapid response protocol whenever a young person is involved in violence. That rapid response works to connect the victims, their families and their friends with immediate support.
That support includes mental health services, housing and relocation and access to youth programming. The City will continue to support anti-violence programs and extended hours program at recreation centers. Furthermore, the City has hired a full-time juvenile specialist to work in the police department.
Mayor Bronin spoke on chronic absenteeism, which continues to be a significant problem in Hartford. Specifically, nearly one out of every two students in the Hartford school system is chronically absent or close to being chronically absent.
The Mayor has worked to create a strong plan with Superintendent Torres-Rodriguez, which places a wide range of strategies to re-engage students.
However, the Mayor also noted that complicated issues like chronic absenteeism cannot be solved inside the walls of schools alone, stating that it must be a top priority reflected in the state’s budget.
He spoke on Governor Ned Lamont’s proposed budget, which increases education funding for alliance districts (like Hartford), where cities are allowed to keep half of the increase to defray city costs. In response the Mayor stated, “We shouldn’t do that.”
Instead, he proposed giving the full increase to the school system and he will also propose earmarking half of that increase to initiatives to help reduce chronic absenteeism.
Overall, the Mayor spoke of the positive work the city has done, but added there is more work to do.
Creating a high quality of life and culture of respect highlight some of the many goals for Hartford. “This is a city that you can make your own,” said Mayor Bronin.
He continued, “We’re a city that fights when we’re down, and we fight for those who are down. We’re a city that stands together. We are the strong heart of our region, and the Capital of this great State.”
The Mayor wrapped up his address stating, “We fought to build momentum and we’ve got it. We will not slow down, we will not stop, and we will not go back."
"Because we’re just getting started.”