New Haven Citizens Action Network » NHPD

Urgent Action

jeffrey.kerekes — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:27:50 +0000

Contact the Police and Fire Pension Fund Commissioners to let them know you are outraged by people trying to game the system. Tell them they cannot afford to squander the pension fund when it is underfunded by 100s of Millions of dollars!

Read this article from the New Haven Register.

Background about the story from the New Haven Independent here, here, and here.

If someone is innocent, then they should continue in their job. The possibility of false accusations is a terrible reality for any police officer. That is why we have a judicial system, of which the police are an integral part. If this person is guilty, he should be fired and not given special treatment — which is all too common in New Haven (CJ Cuticello and Billy White). Check out this outrageous practice in Long Isand.

Contact the Board and tell them we want this to stop!

RETIREMENT BOARD – POLICE AND FIRE FUND

Name	Address	Phone	Email

Bishop Theodore L. Brooks, 271 Stevenson Road, New Haven, CT 06515 203-387-3899
Wendy Mongillo, 12 Oliver Road, New Haven, CT 06515 (203) 387-7948
Richard Epstein, 59 McKinley Avenue, New Haven, CT 06515 Home Phone: 203-397-2299, Cell Phone: 203-982-4838, email
John DeStefano, Jr., Ex-Officio Representative, 150 Judwin Ave, New Haven, CT 06515 203-946-7660, email

2008-9 Budget Recommendations

jeffrey.kerekes — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:39:22 +0000

(NHCAN) is pleased to announce the budget recommendations for the 2008-2009 Fiscal Year. We have prepared a list of recommendations including the ending of unsustainable subsidies, to the reorganization of departments, to the transformation of the budget document itself. Below you will find the link to the full document (2.3 MB), as well as, shorter versions of the document. We recognize that some of these recommendations may be impractical or even naïve. We invite you to consider these in the spirit in which it is offered and to offer superior alternatives for the general good. We look forward to continuing this discussion.

2008-2009 Budget Public Comments(2.3 MB)

Executive Summary Only (414 KB)
Full Document Without the Appendices (1.4 MB)
Appendices Only (2.0 MB)

NEW HAVEN CAN BE BETTER!

jeffrey.kerekes — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 16:15:02 +0000

New Haven Citizens Action Network (NH CAN) was created last summer by a group of New Haven citizens who wished to participate in the deliberations of the Board of Aldermen during the 2007-8 budget process. Our objectives were to ensure that the proposed budget fiscally sound and would not create a tax burden on future taxpayers. We were also interested in keeping city government open to participation from the general public.

Summer has come and gone. The BOA has not welcomed citizen inputs and had prevented public comments on items before the Board. There is a solid majority of the BOA that votes as a block to approve the Mayorâ€™s wishes without too much challenge. Consequently, New Haven CAN has shifted itâ€™s focus â€“ from working with the Alders to working to elect more independent minded Aldermen willing to check the Mayorâ€™s propensity to tax and spend.

The New Haven 2007-8 budget totals $445 million, with Special Funds and Capital expenses adding another $272 million. This is equal to over $14,000 per New Haven household. Of this amount, about 30% is paid directly by City taxpayers, another 50% comes from State taxpayers with the remaining 20% being borrowed. The City has commitments of over $1,100,000,000 â€“ about $22,000 per household — for pension liabilities, debt and retiree health care. Future taxpayers must pay for this.

The budget process is seriously flawed. There is no culture of cost control, of eliminating unnecessary activities to pay for new initiatives. Transparency is lacking. Education spending accounts for 38% of the General Fund. Yet one has to estimate the additional costs for employee benefits, pensions, debt service, the Capital and Special Fund accounts to get a better estimate of total education costs which are closer to 61% of total spending of $717 million.

The budget process is not integrated with the cost drivers that dominate the budget. Contract negotiations commit taxpayers for a good part of the budget, yet occur independently of the budget process. Pension plans still use the more expensive Defined Benefits approach rather than the more widely used Defined Contribution approach.

The budget process does not relate expenditures to any measures of anticipated outcomes. What should we expect for the $17,000 spent per school student each year? How effectively can we expect Police and Fire personnel to respond to incidents? For Public Works to repair sidewalks and roads?? Etc.. There is no reference to such benchmarks in the 400 plus pages of the budget.