By Michael P. Walsh
Special to the Voice
Jeffrey Moreno received the city’s Hispanic American of the Year award at the sixth annual Hispanic Heritage Celebration on Friday.
During a midday ceremony on the steps of City Hall, Mayor Dorinda Borer and the West Haven Hispanic American of the Year Alumni Committee honored Moreno, the grandson of a Puerto Rican-born grandmother, based on his community commitment and cultural pride.
The committee bestows the award annually on a Hispanic resident who epitomizes service in West Haven’s thriving Hispanic community.
On a picture-perfect day, Moreno, who has served on the city’s Board of Ethics since 2019, including a stint as vice chairman, celebrated his Puerto Rican roots with dozens of friends and relatives at the half-hour event.
Along with descendants of folks from Puerto Rico and Latin America, he was also joined by an array of West Haven and New Haven officials, West Haven employees and residents, and city and state leaders, including West Haven Democratic Reps. Bill Heffernan and Treneé McGee, who presented Moreno with a General Assembly citation on behalf of the city’s delegation.
Moreno is a project manager for the city of New Haven and has worked for the Elm City since 2014.
He also received an official statement from McGee on behalf of Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz.
With his wife, the former Shirly Jimenez-Reyes, sitting in the front row and applauding her husband, Moreno accepted the Hispanic American of the Year award by thanking the crowd, the Borer administration, and his loved ones and colleagues.
“It’s an honor and a pleasure to serve; I humbly accept this award,” said Moreno, 43, who was born in New Haven to Wanda Moreno, a native of the Brooklyn borough of New York City. “I want to thank each and every one of you for being here today. This award is as much yours as it is mine, so thank you.”
Moreno’s maternal grandmother hails from the town of Cataño on the northeastern coast of Puerto Rico, bordering the San Juan Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.
Moreno, who lives in Allingtown, was also accompanied by his mother and grandmother, who looked on with pride as their son and grandson was feted.
“I appreciate everyone that has opened the doors for me, and I will continue to keep those doors open for everyone behind me,” he said.
Moreno was raised by his mother and his stepfather, Domingo Jimenez Jr., with his younger half sister, Chemique Jimenez, on Lines Street in New Haven’s Hill neighborhood.
He graduated in 1998 from New Haven’s High School in the Community, where he served as student government and class president.
Moreno earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Southern Connecticut State University in 2003 and a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Albertus Magnus College in 2008.
A Latin-flavored lunch after the event was catered by Jerri’s Luncheonette of West Haven in the lower level of City Hall. A sheet cake was provided by Costco of Milford.
In observance of National Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs through Oct. 15, West Haven recognizes the important legacy of Hispanic Americans and the inspiring contributions they have made to the culture and history of the United States.
Hispanics have had a profound and positive influence on the civic and cultural life of America, enhancing and shaping the national character with centuries-old traditions that reflect the multiethnic and multicultural customs of their community.
Hispanic Heritage Month, which traces its roots to 1968, begins each year on Sept. 15, the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Mexico and Chile also celebrate their independence days during that period.
Borer said Moreno personifies the noble qualities of serving his vibrant community and carrying on the proud traditions of Puerto Rico — as well as the rich tradition of Puerto Ricans in public service.
Shortly after moving to West Haven in 2017, Moreno got involved in his new community, with the goal of impacting as many lives as possible through service.
As a member of the West Haven Community Development Administration’s Citizen Advisory Committee since 2019, he has helped oversee the city’s federal Community Development Block Grant application process for earmarking funding for local organizations that serve low-to-moderate-income residents.
Borer praised the civic-minded Moreno for his dedication to the city and its robust Hispanic community.
Moreno is the 5th District chairman of the city’s Democratic Town Committee and was recently appointed to Borer’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Arts, Culture and Tourism to support arts investments in the community, to create a strategy for promoting tourism in West Haven, and to help coordinate the city’s new microgrant arts program.
He also serves on the board of directors of Creative Arts Workshop in New Haven.
Borer presented Moreno with an embroidered “Hispanic American of the Year 2024” jacket, and the alumni committee presented him with a Puerto Rican flag.
The mayor thanked former Mayor Nancy R. Rossi for attending the ceremony and starting a tradition that Borer has continued, saying, “Hispanic Americans embody the best of our American values, including devotion to faith, family and country, and they show the same grit and determination that have carried us forward for centuries.”
Borer then read and presented a citation lauding Moreno’s good works.
“As a member of our Board of Ethics and my Blue Ribbon Panel on Arts, Culture and Tourism, you have been one of our finest representatives,” the mayor said. “Your devotion to your faith and family and your commitment to lifting up the Hispanic American community you love symbolize everything that is good about West Haven.”
The cultural event also included congratulatory remarks by master of ceremonies Sammy Rivera, the city’s 2021 Hispanic American of the Year, along with Joseph Rodriguez, the deputy state director of U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s Hartford office, and state Treasurer Erick Russell.
After a prayer by Ana Garcia of Vertical Church of West Haven, Garcia sang moving renditions “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the Puerto Rican national anthem, “La Borinqueña,” as a tearful Moreno looked on.