John L. “Jay” Pottenger, Jr., 72 THE INNER-CITY NEWS - March 01, 2023 - March 07, 2023
John L. “Jay” Pottenger, Jr., Yale law professor and tireless advocate for fair housing, died peacefully on Thursday, February 23, 2023 at Connecticut Hospice, surrounded by his wife, Sue, and his three children Will, Jack, and Emma. In 2021, he was diagnosed with an advanced stage urologic cancer, and his bravery and humor in the face of this illness was extraordinary. He was always grateful for the exceptional medical and surgical care he received at Smilow Cancer Hospital. Jay was born on March 3, 1950 to John L. Pottenger, Sr. and Tavia Morgan Pottenger in Chicago, Il, and before the age of 15 had called several midwestern cities home. As the eldest of six gifted children, he had tremendous love for his siblings Marty, Lynn, Candy, Bill, and Betsy. After attending Shady Side Academy in Pittsburgh, PA, he went on to dabble in several academic pursuits at Princeton University, before settling on Urban Affairs. He was an avid member of the Speech and Debate team, a protester of the Vietnam War, and a passionate bridge player. After Princeton, he attended Yale Law School, graduating in 1975. After two judicial clerkships and a few years at Paul Weiss in New York City, Jay devoted his career to the Yale Law School clinical programs, where his wide-ranging service work included legislative advocacy, prison legal services, trial practice, landlord/tenant law, and professional responsibility. The true north of his work
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO John L. "Jay" Pottenger, Jr. (center), surrounded by legal students and colleagues.
was housing and community development, through which he has made an extraordinary difference in the Greater New Haven and larger Connecticut communities. He was a tireless advocate for affordable housing, and took great pleasure in taking on any institution or individual in the name of justice. Jay’s passion for housing justice was also expressed through Open Communities Alliance, an organization he helped to co-found that
aims to unwind Connecticut’s history of government-perpetuated segregation and focuses on reducing social, economic, and health disparities experienced by low-income families of color. Outside of his legal work, he served on numerous nonprofit boards, and he was an avid sports fan with a particular passion for Liverpool Football Club, the Steelers, and the White Sox. Despite his professional responsibilities, he somehow
Teachers Union Contract, Fed-Funded Tutoring Plan OK’d
managed to attend every soccer game and tennis match in which his children ever played, and was a long-time board member of the Branford Soccer Club. Jay also took great pride in his night-owl habits, and his ability to get anywhere faster than the GPS predicted. He also loved excellent wine, and covertly organized most family travel around visiting the best vineyards in the world. A brilliant, humble man, Jay’s legacy includes countless law school graduates who have gone out into the world carrying Jay’s creativity, positivity, and dedication to service. He spared innumerable clients legal jeopardy, and treated them with dignity no matter the ultimate result. He had colleagues and friends on both sides of the pond and all over the world. But for all his accomplishments, Jay’s greatest source of pride was his loving family. Relatives and friends are invited to a visitation Sunday afternoon from 3:00 – 6:00 PM at the W. S. Clancy Memorial Funeral Home, 244 North Main Street, Branford. A funeral service will be held Monday morning at 11:00 in Trinity Episcopal Church, 1109 Main Street, on-thegreen, in Branford. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Open Communities Alliance (www.ctoca.org), or the Greater Dwight Development Corporation (www. gddcnh.org). For directions and online memorial see www.wsclancy.com.
LAURA GLESBY (8) Comments Post a Comment E-mail the Author City Hall Labor Schools
Teachers Union Contract, Fed-Funded Tutoring Plan OK’d by LAURA GLESBY New Haven Independent
City teachers will be getting a 15 percent pay raise over the next three years — while a new math-and-literacy tutoring initiative will be getting $3 million in federal aid to get off the ground — thanks to two recent education-focused votes by the Board of Alders. Both of those votes took place Tuesday night during the latest bimonthly full Board of Alders meeting, which was held in person in the Aldermanic Chamber on the second floor of City Hall. Alders unanimously voted to approve a contract between the New Haven Federation of Teachers and the New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) district. That nowfinalized union deal will run from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2026. The new contract includes a 14.79 percent salary increase over the course of three years, raising the starting salary for New Haven teachers with a bachelor’s degree from $45,357 to $51,421 by 2026. In addition, the contract will enact between a 2 and 5 percent increase in employee contributions to healthcare plans. It will compensate teachers an additional $42 per hour for covering classes during their prep
PAUL BASS FILE PHOTO Educators rally outside City Hall for full school funding last March.
periods. And it will guarantee union repre-
American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to create a “high-dosage” tutoring proadministrators, during which teachers can gram for NHPS students. PAUL BASS FILE PHOTO raise concerns working Mayor Justin Educators rallyabout outside City conditions. Hall for full school funding lastElicker March.proposed this tuFinance Committeewill Chair Marchplan months after learning that last City teachers beAdam getting a 15toring percent pay raise over the and summarized these contents to his col- school year, 83 percent of third graders next yearswhile — while a new math-and-literacy leaguesthree on Tuesday, underscoring performed below grade tutoring level in reading initiative willrolebethatgetting in federal to get off thegrade “the important teachers $3 playmillion with and 87 percentaid performed below our youth.”— thanks to two recent education-focused level in math. ground votes by the The alders also unanimously authorized The Elicker Administration hopes to enBoard of Alders. the city to spend $3 million of federal list enough volunteer tutors to serve 1,500
! sentatives a monthly meeting with NHPS
Both of those votes took place Tuesday night during the latest bimonthly full Board of Alders meeting, which was 10 held in
students by 2025, with every student receiving at least an hour of tutoring across multiple sessions per week. At Tuesday’s full Board of Alders meeting, Marchand summarized some concerns among Finance and Education Committee members about the proposal. “Many [alders] had questions about a lack of details about how the money would be spent … and the administration’s reliance on very many volunteers,” Marchand said. The committees ultimately recommended that the plan be approved, Marchand said, because of an amendment requiring a review committee comprising an alder, a Board of Education member, and a city staff member to oversee the program’s development. “We need to be doing everything we can to ensure our students have the resources they need,” echoed Education Committee Chair Eli Sabin. Now that the plan has been approved, city Communications Director Lenny Speiller said the administration’s next step is to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for at least one organization to administer the tutoring program. Speiller said the RFP will likely go out in early March.
Former Planning and Zoning Commissioner Steven R. Mullins has announced his candidacy for
Mayor of West Haven The announcement was made in a video released Friday on social media
Steven R. Mullins
Mullins, a Republican calls West Haven “A beautiful costal community with untapped potential,” in the one minute video. “Having served as planning and zoning commissioner for sixteen years and as a volunteer firefighter, I know and understand first hand, the issues going on in West Haven.” he says. Mullins brought up issues of litter, blight and potholes. He also mentioned the corruption of former Democratic State Representative and City Council administrative assistant Michael DiMassa, who is accused of embezzling over one million dollars of Federal Covid relief funds from the City. “One day of corruption is far too much corruption.” He said. “It is time to end the culture of corruption that has infested West Haven City Hall.” Mullins served on the West Haven Planning and Zoning Commission for sixteen years until Mayor Nancy R. Rossi dismissed him last month. In the video, Mullins criticized Rossi’s lack of leadership in cooperating with the State’s Municipal Accountability Review Board, which is threatening a complete state takeover of City finances due to the Rossi Administration’s non-compliance with the agency. “We need a leader that will attend the meetings of the MARB.” Mullins said. Republican Paige Weinstein is the only other candidate for Mayor to file candidacy paperwork. Former Mayor Edward O’BRIEN filed papers for an explanation committee. Rossi has yet to announce her intentions to run for a fourth term. Steven R. Mullins Photograph by: Alex Vishno