Yale “Teach-In” aims to offer insight into unrest in Middle East

NEW HAVEN — A panel discussion featuring four experts on the history and political affairs of the Middle East will take place from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Feb. 8 in Levinson Auditorium of Yale Law School, 127 Wall St.

The discussion is intended to "provide a primer for understanding the rapidly evolving social unrest in the region," according to a statement.

The discussion is free and open to the public, the statement said.

Panelists are Adel Allouche, Department of History, Yale; Adria Lawrence and Ellen Lust, Department of Political Science, Yale; and Tarek Masoud, Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, the statement said.
Marcia C. Inhorn, the William K. Lanman Jr. Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at Yale and chairwoman of the Council on Middle East Studies will act as moderator.

Other details, all in the statement:
* Allouche, a native of Tunis, was born with dual U.S. and Tunisian citizenship and received his undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Tunis. He is an authority on Medieval Islamic history and has written “The Origins and Development of the Ottoman-Safavid Conflict (906-962/1500-1555)” (1983) and “Mamluk Economics: A Study and Translation of al-Maqrizi's Ighathah” ( 1994). He has contributed countless articles and reviews to encyclopedias and journals, including the International Journal of Middle East Studies, Language in Society, Journal of Semitic Studies and The Muslim World.

* Lawrence, a scholar of Middle Eastern and North African politics, studies conflict and collective action, focusing on how people mobilize to advance ideologies such as ethnicity, nationalism, religion and democracy. Her study titled “Imperial Rule and the Politics of Nationalism” analyzes the nationalist mobilization against French colonial rule in the 20th-century. Her work on the use of violence by non-state actors, co-edited with Erica Chenoweth, has been published in “International Security and Rethinking Violence: States and Non State Actors in Conflict” (2010).

* Inhorn’s research interests revolve around science and technology studies, gender and feminist theory (including masculinity studies), religion and bioethics, globalization and global health. As past-president of the Society for Medical Anthropology (SMA) of the American Anthropological Association, Inhorn chaired the SMA conference on “Medical Anthropology at the Intersections: Celebrating 50 Years of Interdisciplinarity,” held at Yale in September 2009.

* Lust is a leading authority on the politics of authoritarianism and the prospects for democracy in the Middle East. Her books include “Structuring Conflict in the Arab World” (2005); “Political Participation in the Middle East” (2008), co-edited with Saloua Zerhouni; and a textbook titled “The Middle East” (2010). She has also published articles in such journals as Comparative Politics, Comparative Political Studies, International Journal of Middle East Studies and Politics and Society. Lust is currently working on a book examining the politics of elections in the Arab world and on a project focusing on social and economic transformations in Africa and the Middle East. Lust and two Yale colleagues are among 150 academics publicly urging President Barack Obama to demand the immediate resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.

* Masoud teaches public policy at the Kennedy School. His research focuses on the processes by which governments in poor countries become more responsive to the needs of their people. Masoud is the co-editor of “Problems and Methods in the Study of Politics” (2004) and “Order, Conflict, and Violence” (2008), and his articles and reviews have appeared in the Journal of Democracy, Foreign Policy and the International Journal of Middle East Studies, among others. Masoud received his Ph.D in from Yale in 2008.

The “teach in” is sponsored by the Council on Middle East Studies, the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies, the International Students Organization, and the Arab Students Association.

Editor's note: All information in this post was provided by Yale; it is lightly edited here and provided as a public service.
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Fired up

The public battle between city officials and a downtown property owner over last December's Ninth Square fire flared up again Sunday as Mayor John DeStefano Jr. accused Paul Denz of "threatening" the city by planning to show videotapes of the demolition to the media.


Read the full story here:

nhregister.com

Obama emails raise eyebrows

By Elizabeth Benton
Register Staff
NEW HAVEN — At 2 p.m. Jan. 17, an announcement from city spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga hit media inboxes. “Mayor DeStefano endorses Obama for president,” it said.
In the weeks leading up to Super Tuesday and immediately after, Mayorga sent out four more Obama e-mails: “Three new aldermen endorse Obama for president”; “Mayor DeStefano to lead rally in support of Obama for president”; “correction: Obama rally will take place 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 19,” and “Mayor DeStefano celebrates Obama’s primary win.”
While there’s nothing in state election law barring use of municipal staff to publicize a political endorsement, other politicians say they avoid the practice.
Joan Andrews, director of legal affairs and enforcement for the state Elections Enforcement Commission, said, “I’m not condoning it. It’s not appropriate.”
Connecticut ethics codes do not explicitly bar state officials from using staff to publicize endorsements, but the state Office of Ethics has previously advised against it.
DeStefano, however, defended the announcements, saying his support for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in the Democratic primary was news.
“It was just a matter of fact. I didn’t ask anybody in my statement to vote for him. There was no attempt to persuade,” he said.
But it appears DeStefano may be in the minority. No politicians or spokesmen asked about the practice, including Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, state House Speaker James Amann, D-Milford, Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy, staff for Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch, staff for U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, and staff for Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, said they used office staff or time for endorsements.
When Blumenthal endorsed New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, a fellow Democrat, his press aides didn’t know until informed by a reporter.
“We have a very strict, impenetrable wall between our normal attorney general work and any political endorsements and activities,” Blumenthal said. “Neither in local elections nor in national primaries or elections is my press staff involved.
“They are state employees working on official and public business of my office and have more than enough to do.” he said.
Blumenthal said he was hesitant to weigh in on how endorsements have been handled in other offices, but said New Haven’s practice “might be problematic.”
“But it would really depend on all of the circumstances,” he said. “People will say they’re working on their lunch hour, taking a private hour or doing it on their own, but the problem is as much with the appearance of impropriety, which is important to the public. This is the reason I have a very strict separation. To avoid any question.”
Malloy said his Clinton endorsement was publicized by her campaign, and he has never used City Hall staff to announce a political endorsement. “I won’t do that,” he said. “Political is political, staff is staff,” he said.Finch’s office has a policy barring political campaign work on city time, said Finch’s chief of staff, Adam Wood.
When Finch endorsed Clinton, the press release came from Clinton’s campaign. “City government is nonpolitical. Political endorsements are simply not city business,” Wood said.
Wood worked on Clinton’s campaign, and said he took a vacation day on Super Tuesday and “did a lot of work on weekends.”
When DeLauro announced her support for Obama, news came from her campaign office, Obama’s staff and the congresswoman herself on a Saturday. The e-mail from DeLauro was sent from a private e-mail account, and not from her congressional account.
According to DeLauro spokeswoman Adriana Surfas (who did not release the endorsement), the campaign office that released the endorsement is paid for by fundraising.Bysiewicz, a Democrat, has not endorsed a candidate for this year’s presidential race beyond verbally expressing support for Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd’s now defunct campaign. Her chief of staff, Michelle Gilman, said when Bysiewicz has supported candidates, “she would consider that political activity under state law, not permitted on state premises.”
“She would do that on her own time with her own resources,” Gilman said.
Mayorga said Thursday she could not recall who suggested her involvement in the mayor’s endorsements, but said it did not bother her.
“My job is to carry out the message of the mayor. … This was beyond a political endorsement. This was a set of ideas he believed in, because he felt New Haven could benefit from some of the ideas Senator Obama has been promoting. There was a direct connection to New Haven,” she said.
Mayorga does not often send out aldermanic press releases, but said she was asked by Aldermen Gina Calder, D-2, Greg Morehead, D-22, and Joseph Rodriguez, D-15, to announce their support for Obama. Had other aldermen supporting other candidates asked for similar assistance, Mayorga said she would have helped them. “They could have approached me. ... These individuals just happened to ask me on one given afternoon,” she said.
Elizabeth Benton can be reached at 789-5714, or ebenton@nhregister.com.

Aldermen leery of water pollution control agency’s debt collection practices

By Maria Garriga
Register Staff
NEW HAVEN — The Greater New Haven Water Pollution Control Authority has raised the eyebrows of the Board of Aldermen by filing more than 100 foreclosure proceedings since September in an effort to force laggards to pay bills years overdue.
The agency said its new policy calls for foreclosures on overdue bills greater than $1,000.
Alderwoman Ina Silverman, D-25, had asked for a public hearing to explore alternatives to foreclosure in collections, a request co-sponsored by board President Carl Goldfield, D-29.
However, at a full board meeting this week, the board requested briefings on the subject by WPCA officials before voting on a public hearing.
“This just slows down the process,” Silverman said, adding that the authority would have to make its case twice, first at the briefing then at the hearing.
But aldermen Jacqueline James, D-3, and Michael Smart, D-8, both said they want to learn about the issue to prepare for a public hearing.
“Let’s get the facts together first,” Smart said. “What are the collection methods and what are the long term plans?”
“We are not clear on what the issues are,” James said. We can’t be blindsided. Give us some information first. It doesn’t have to be a briefing, even a memo will do. We are the legislative branch of the city. WPCA is a pseudo-city agency and we should know what’s going on. Give us something.”
Goldfield, for his part, said a private briefing would be unusual prior to a public hearing but that he would be happy to hold one. “The more information we have, the better.”
So far, the agency has not carried out full foreclosures, but initiated proceedings for more than 100 customers. Further, up to 400 accounts could be subject to foreclosure proceedings under the collections policy the authority adopted in September.
Authority officials said initiating foreclosure may be the only way to collect from customers who have ignored mounting bills and repeated reminders for years. The agency said its attorneys assured it its action are legal. Aldermen worry foreclosure filings result in additional legal charges beyond the original bill and may violate the Fair Debt Collection Act. The WPCA had once been under the city Public Works Department as the Water Pollution Control Authority until 2005. The city turned the authority into an independent regional entity that allowed the city to write substantial debt off its books, for the agency to focus exclusively on the sewer system, and gain participation from surrounding towns.
Goldfield has said a public would help clarify the problem.
“Are there alternate routes to foreclosures? Who are the people who aren’t paying their bills? Are there reasons for delinquencies such as health problems or layoffs?”
The agency said its attorneys assured it its action are legal.
Other aldermen say the GNHWPCA needs to fine-tune its collection policy.
“We already know people aren’t paying their bills because they can’t afford it. What we need is a better collection policy,” said Alderman Jorge Perez, D-5. The board’s representative on the authority, Alderman Al Paolillo Jr., D-17, defended the agency’s practice.
“Most reasonable people would feel that, after seven to 10 years, a bill should be paid,” he said, adding, “We are open to different ways of collecting.”
Dominick Digangi, the agency’s executive director, said foreclosure initiations have been a last ditch attempt to gain attention of customers who have neglected bills for years despite receiving numerous notices and liens.
The agency added an 18 percent annual interest rate, the maximum permitted by state law, for overdue bills. Officials hoped the interest rate would encourage customers to pay by credit card, which typically offer lower rates, rather than leave bills unpaid. But delinquent customers continued to ignore agency bills and reminders.
So the authority implemented a new billing and collections policy in September that required the agency to send overdue accounts to collection agencies when more than $90 is owed or a bill is more than 90 days overdue. The agency files liens twice a year on property with outstanding bills. Foreclosures can be initiated for any amount due over $1,000.
Digangi said foreclosures initiated over amounts lower than $1,000 are on properties of customers who owe on multiple accounts.
Seeing foreclosure papers often prompts customers to try to pay, Digangi said. More than 50 customers have a payment plan for overdue bills.
The authority revamped its approach to collections after a consultant informed it the collection rate had been 90 percent, when the agency had estimated 94 percent.
That meant the agency had leaned on rate payers to subsidize four percent of delinquents. Further, the 90 percent of customers who paid on time had to cover 100 percent of the authority’s annual expenses, he said.
The authority must make sure its revenue balances expenses so authority officials opted to use foreclosures to force payment. Rather than taking properties, authority’s attorneys would ask the court to put property up for auction. The winning bidder would have to pay outstanding sewer bills.
There are several drawbacks to this approach, he acknowledged. The bills could trigger foreclosure for as little as $1,000. The attorneys fees for foreclosure would be higher than some of the outstanding, in some cases more than doubling the total owed. This increased the stress on cash-strapped customers who had fallen behind on their bills. However, the authority sought foreclosures only after delinquent customers had ignored numerous reminders and attempts to contact them by the authority and so far the authority has not completed any foreclosures.”
“Over 90 percent of the time the mortgage holder pays when they find out. Why would they put $100,000 at risk.” (The mortgage holder is usually the bank, he added). Digangi argues the agency had no other option to make deadbeat customers pay . Unlike most utilities, the sewer company cannot terminate service when customers fail to pay.

Emails point to retaliation, prof says

By Mary E. O’Leary
Register Topics Editor
NEW HAVEN — Correspondence between federal agencies tends to lend support to the theory that an immigration raid this summer was in retaliation to New Haven’s municipal ID card, according to a Yale professor.
Michael Wishnie Monday s, one of several attorneys defending the card and more than 30 immigrants picked up by federal Immigration and Enforcement officials in June,aid a June 5 e-mail from regional Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to ICE Director Julie Myers "casts doubts on the statements that the raid had nothing to do with the ID program."
The June 5 e-mail to Myers informs her that on June 4 the city’s Board of Aldermen had voted 25-1 in favor of the first-in-the-nation ID cards, which are available to all residents, regardless of immigration status.
The e-mail further warns Myers that because of the vote, ICE should expect considerable news coverage of the June 6 raid in New Haven. More than 30 immigrants were arrested during that raid, the majority of whom are out of jail and litigating against the manner in which the raid was conducted.
Wishnie said there is "no direct smoking gun" revealing ICE’s intentions, but taken together, the correspondence "tends to support the suggestion that I have made that it is retaliatory."
ICE spokeswoman Paula Greiner from the Boston office has said the e-mail was routine in that officials always pass on information that might affect a raid. She could not be reached for further comment Monday, but Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff in the summer also denied the raids were retaliatory.
Wishnie, who is part of the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization clinic at Yale, felt the mid-April date of ICE’s pre-operation plan for the New Haven raid was more significant than the June 5 e-mail.
ICE has said from the start that the raid was not connected to the ID cards since the planning took place in April and the cards did not get final local approval until June.
Wishnie said there was press on the ID card throughout the spring, including a laudatory op-ed piece in the Connecticut section of the New York Times April 15.
"At the end of that business week (on April 20), ICE in Hartford has submitted a plan to do an operation in New Haven, which goes up the chain of command. To me it is that part that most suggests this was direct retaliation," Wishnie said.
An original date to conduct the date in May was cancelled and moved to June.
A state Freedom of Information hearing on a request for the names and other documentation supporting the ID cards by Chris Powell of the Manchester Journal-Inquirer has been set for Feb. 20, but Wishnie and the city are expected to seek an extension until March or April.
Mary E. O’Leary can be reached at 789-5731 or moleary@nhregister.com.