Excellent Critique on the Yale Daily News By Nathan Zelinsky:
http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2010/nov/16/zelinsky-just-say-destefano/
Posts Tagged ‘Mayor’
Excellent Critique of John DeStefano
Wednesday, November 17th, 2010Summary of BOA Final Budget Vote: “Let Them Eat Cake”
Friday, May 28th, 2010Read the summary of the Board Of Alder meeting last evening on the City’s 2010-11 Budget and see how they voted.
Take The Mayor’s Quiz!
Friday, May 21st, 2010Download the PDF version to take the Mayor’s Budget Quiz or click the image below.
What Changed in 6 Months?
Monday, May 3rd, 2010
Thank You
Thursday, April 29th, 2010Thank You
We had a very successful turn out last evening and even won over the people turned out by the Mayor. Lets keep up the pressure to have the Board of Aldermen send the budget back to the Mayor.
WQUN Interview, this coming Saturday 7:00 am
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010A radio interview on The New Haven Citizen’s Action 2010 Tax Relief Rescue Mission, with Susan Campion, volunteer, will be aired:
Saturday, 4/24 at 7:07 am (Early Bird Special)
John Deandre’s Newsmakers program
Tune in on 1220 am on your radio or click here for live streaming.
Learn more about Performance Based Budgeting from Susan Campion.
Final Public Hearing, Wednesday, April 28 @ 6:30 pm
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010We need your support by coming to the final public hearing on the budget. Your presence will make a big difference and we need you to come even if you can only stay a short while. The meeting is at City Hall, on the second floor, 165 Church Street.
We are asking everyone to do these three things:
#1 —- Sign the Petition to Cut the Budget by 10%
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The Mayor is proposing a 2% cut through Innovation Based Budgeting (IBB), we are asking that number to be 10% to be no new (net) taxes. Please call Jeffrey at 203-676-0880 or email [email protected] if you have petitions ready to be picked up. While our Citywide Brainstorm has generated over 315 revenue/expense ideas, we believe city managers are best poised to implement cost savings measures to achieve a 10% reduction in the budget.
http://www.petitiononline.com/NewHaven/petition.html
#2 —- Come to the Final Public Hearing On The Budget —- **** PLEASE COME TO THIS EVENT!!!!! **** —-
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Final public hearing on the budget. We need people to turn out on this night. Bring your neighbors!!!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 @ 6:30 pm
Board of Alders Chambers, City Hall, 165 Church Street, New Haven, CT 06511
#3 —- Contact these Board of Alders, Finance Committee Members —- They will be making a recommendation to the Full BOA on the Budget —-
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Ward#
4 Andrea Jackson-Brooks [email protected] 102 DeWitt Street New Haven, CT 06519-2131 203-776-0502
5 Jorge Perez [email protected] 24 Cassius Street New Haven, CT 06519-2313 203-562-4373
7 Bitsy Clark [email protected] 320 Audobon Court New Haven, CT 06511-1203 203-772-4455
9 Roland Lemar [email protected] 549 Orange Street New Haven, CT 06511- 203-240-6135
10 Justin Elicker [email protected] 192 Willow Street New Haven, CT 06511-2501 203-500-2969
11 Maureen O’Sullivan-Best [email protected] 54 Foxon Street New Haven, CT 06513-3404 203-467-9783
14 Stephanie Bauer [email protected] 55 East Pearl Street New Haven, CT 06513-3206 203-785-0065
16 Migdalia Castro [email protected] 139 Lloyd Street,Unit 3, New Haven, CT 06513-3811 777-6835
22 Greg Morehead [email protected] 13 Frances Hunter Drive, New Haven, CT 06511-3533 203-507-7766
23 Yusuf I. Shah [email protected] 730 George Street #309, New Haven, CT 06511-5217 843-4450
29 Carl Goldfield [email protected] 25 Roydon Road New Haven, CT 06511-2806 782-2064 w:787-9222
Online Petition – Cut The Budget By 10%
Friday, March 19th, 2010A Petition to the Members of the Board of Alders Finance Committee
The undersigned residents and taxpayers of New Haven wish to register our opposition to Mayor DeStefano’s proposed 2010-2011 budget. The $670,448,590 proposal is a large one and calls for a city-wide 9–11% tax increase, regardless of taxpayers’ ability to carry this burden. This is unacceptable.
We agree with the Mayor that these times are not normal. We disagree emphatically, however, with the Mayor’s proposed responses to these events. The Mayor’s proposal does little to attack the real problem, which is rapidly escalating costs, well beyond the rate of inflation. We refuse to be deflected from this focus.
In normal times, those who want work can generally find it. In normal times, wages and salaries increase, real estate values rise, the stock market expands – and we can support tax increases. But these are not normal times. In households throughout New Haven, families are re-learning how to “do without”. In New Haven’s businesses, and in our churches, colleges, and universities, responsible officials are finding ways to cut costs – not to control their growth, but to cut them. We affirm that, in these decidedly not normal times, New Haven’s city government must do the same. As City Alders, you have the authority to demand changes in the proposed budget and not simply accept it with minor changes As those who voted you into office, we deserve your protection and support.
We urge you to request that every department head identify ways to cut their actual expenses– not their proposals, but their current budgets – by 10% and to submit such reductions in a revised budget proposal. These are competent professionals who know how best to do this. They alone know how the dollar is spent and which activities provide the least value.
As an outside group we cannot presume to dictate where those cuts must be. We are confident, however, that competent professionals in every department know best how to cut 10% from their expenses with the least pain to New Haven’s quality of life and critical City services. Let them use furloughs, freeze hiring, wages and salaries, health care benefits, or simply turn the lights off earlier. Let them identify the ways to achieve the 10% reduction. We expect that some services will be sacrificed, and we are reluctantly ready to deal with that. We are not ready for yet another tax increase.
We know that what we propose is difficult. But these are not normal times. We urge you to send the Mayor’s proposal back and demand accountability from each and every department throughout this city. We love this city. We want this city to remain a great place to live for all.
To sign our petition to cut 10% of the budget: http://www.petitiononline.com/NewHaven/petition.html
Or if you want to print out the petition and help gather signatures. Return it to Jeffrey Kerekes, 43 Lyon Street, New Haven, CT 06511 203-676-0880
One More Answered, One More To Go
Friday, March 19th, 2010The City is answering your budget questions. I submitted mine. What are your questions?
Here is one of the remaining two unanswered questions. One more to go:
(3/19/2010) Q: Under current contracts, does the City have the power to unilaterally change the work requirements such that we move City Hall to a four day work week and cut all related expenses including a proportional amount of salaries and benefits? You might not be able to change the contract on the days they actually work, but can you indirectly deal with this by decreasing the number of days?
A: The current bargaining agreements between the City and our Unions all contain language that prevent us from unilaterally making any of the changes suggested.
Remaining Question:
Question #3 — Not Answered Yet
#3: Why are we giving Chris DePino $50,000 a year as a state lobbyist when we have 8 Representative (2 senators and 6 reps) at the capitol? What have been the total payments to him for lobbying over all the years and what was the first year he was paid? What has his total ROI been from his specific efforts? Same thing with the about $100,000 we spend with William & Jennings our “Washington Communicator”?
