Run Down on Middletown's Common Council Budget Vote

Taxes go up & and Democrats vote to give Mayor Drew  a Raise. The mayor's salary of just over $78,000 will get a raise of $6,667 annually.

At tonight's Special Common Council meeting the budget for the City for fiscal year 2013-2014 was passed which increases the mill rate from 26.9 mills to 27.7 mills.  The final budget approved was reduction of 0.1 mills from the Mayor's proposed budget and was approved by a vote of 6 to 5.  The nay votes came from the four Republican Council members (Philip Pessina,  Joseph Bibisi, Deborah Kleckowski, Linda Salafia) and Democrat Todd Berch.  The approved budget changes from the Mayor's budget were submitted by most of the Democratic caucus with the exception of Councilwoman Mary Bartolotta and Councilman Todd Berch.  Councilman Grady Faulkner was a signatory of the amendment but was absent from the meeting.

A summary of the changes to the Mayor's budget included a raise for the Mayor; a shift of the proposed position of grant writer to a contractural services consultant; a small decrease in the Treasurer's salary; a reduction in the line item for electricity; the funding for the second Deputy City Attorney was removed; court costs were reduced; an increase in the stipend for the Council; increase in funding for parttime Library salaries; conferences in Finance increased; added position for Manager of Senior Center; funding for the   Economic Specialist put back in until his expected retirement; addition to professional development in Personnel for training; funding for Assistant Building Official; funding for hepatitis shots for Emergency Mgt; increase for holiday tree lighting; additional for tree services in public works; increase in tree planting and replacement, urban forestry; funds for the Old Burying Grounds; professional memberships were reduced; funds were moved around for youth services work student work programs from the Chamber of Commerce back to the City's budget; reductions were made to the health insurance benefit funds, property casualty funds, workers compensation funds; and a reduction to the line item for streetlights to reflect a change in how the street lights are acquired and maintained. 

For the education portion of the budget:  this year the BOE is returning to the General Fund $224,000; of this $124,000 is being returned to the BOE.  The Mayor's proposed budget had allocated to the BOE $75,550,000, the adopted budget reduced that amount by $1,168,086.  Per the following statement read by the submitting parties:

Reason:  It has come to the City's attention that the Board of Education's (BOE) Educational Alliance Grant will increase by the amount shown.  These funds will not be credited to the City's General Fund but go directly to the BOE.  This reduction and a corresponding reduction in the revenue line (see Revenues) will properly account for the new funding increase.  Should the amount increase when the legislature passes its budget later this year the corresponding amount will also to to the BOE.  The BOE is still receiving $3,920,639 between the City's allocation and Alliance Grant.  The City's portion is $1,955,914 which is an increase over last year's allocation of $1.9 million."

On the revenue side of the budget, revenue was reduced by the amount of the Alliance Grant that will be going directly to the BOE; Park and Recreation fees for activities and sports will be increased; the amount expected to be realized from building permit fees was increased; the amount expected to be realized from police private duty was increases and the contribution from the General Fund was increased by the contribution from the return of funds by the BOE.

The budgets for the Middletown Fire District, Sanitation Collection District, Water Pollution Control Authority Budget for the Water Department and the Special Business District all passed on votes of 11 to 0.

Guest Blog: Department Merger Begins by John Milardo

 Below is a essay by John Milardo. All opinions expressed are that of the author and not necessarily that of the Insider staff. The essay in its original format can be downloaded here:https://docs.google.com/file/d/1JdYt1P4HN0CPb-B3Mi8qtOXC4yIWrbTyQ7VJbNEG-cDgCfYmgxL7H_1mziVX/edit?usp=sharing

The Common Council will the vote on Mayor Drew's proposed budget just around the corner, the Council will be voting on the government re-org soon. Milardo discusses the impact below. See the Editor's note at the end of the article to read our past posts on the same subject for further background. Past newsletters from Mr. Milardo can be accessed on our site by typing in "And Justice for All" or "John Milardo" into the search area at the top of the page.
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 “And Justice For All” is a newsletter involving my opinions, views, and commentary as a life long
Middletown resident. In my capacity as a former employee of Middletown (retired) for over 41
years, I have a different perspective regarding how and why public figures do what they do.

The merger of City of Middletown departments begins according to an article in the
Hartford Courant by reporter Shawn Beals. ( http://www.courant.com/community/middletown/hc-

middletown-legal-personnel-0426-20130425,0,1041366.story )

The article states that City officials estimate a yearly savings of $92,000 for the taxpayer,
and more efficiency in government because the present Personnel department will be on
the same floor as the legal department. The below is an excerpt from the Courant article.

The city attorney's office and the risk management office are on the upper level of city hall,
while the personnel department is in the basement. The three offices frequently have to
work together on labor issues and other matters, and Smith said proximity would boost
productivity.

"Being in the same office, it's going to have much more efficiency and shared knowledge,
and that comes to saving tax dollars," said Council Democratic Majority Leader Thomas
Serra. Smith said he plans to have weekly staff meetings.

Mayor Daniel Drew said the merger of the three departments, a major shift in internal city
operations, would ensure a smarter approach to labor and legal decisions.

"We're consolidating operations by putting our personnel function in our legal office,"
Drew said. "It will give us the ability to avoid future problems by ensuring that personnel
decisions are not made in a vacuum in terms of the legal effects personnel decisions have."

The newly hired City Attorney Brigg Smith comes from Michigan, and has absolutely no
knowledge of how Middletown government operated. Councilman Serra should know that
just because a department is moved within another does not guarantee more productivity.

Consolidating may have the reverse affect on productivity if the City Attorney is a micro-
manager and there are personality conflicts within the proposed consolidation. Various
past ways to get around the two floor difference was by using phones, emails, stairs, and
the elevator.

Mayor Daniel Drew’s statement: "We're consolidating operations by putting our personnel
function in our legal office," Drew said. "It will give us the ability to avoid future problems
by ensuring that personnel decisions are not made in a vacuum in terms of the legal effects
personnel decisions have."

What past problems is he referring too? His statement about personnel decisions being
made in a vacuum is total hogwash! Every Mayor before him instructed the Personnel
Director which way to proceed on any given matter, and approved the final decision of
ALL personnel issues. That is the Mayors primary function as the immediate supervisor
of all department heads. Let’s call a spade a spade… the Mayor does not want to be
bothered having more than a handful of directors talking to him. That will put a damper
on the amount of time he spends in Hartford.

How the City Officials came up with a $92,000 per year savings is beyond me. Before this
current reorganization of departments, the City Attorney’s Office consisted of one (1) City
Attorney ($120K) and one (1) secretary ($54K). The Personnel Department consisted of
one (1) Director ($102K), one (1) Deputy Director ($87K) and an Assistant ($54K).
Total of $363K.

The newly proposed “Legal Counsel” department will consist of a City Attorney ($130K),
two (2) Deputy City Attorney’s ($120K per attorney), a Human Resources Director
($102K), and a legal secretary ($54K). Total of $526K.

Now, these wages do not include benefits, and are cost out at their maximum wage, as it
seems that is how Mayor Drew likes to hire people. So, let’s do the math; $526,000 minus
$363,000 = $163,000 increase. What! An increase? Can’t be! I must have hit the wrong
keys on my calculator. Let me check my numbers again. 526 minus 363 = 163 no, no, no,
I mean a savings of $92,000 a year. Yeah, that’s right, a savings of $92K a year. Damn
calculator! It just kills batteries.

Perhaps the Officials calculator has different function keys, and can show how there is
such a huge discrepancy – their $92K decrease to my $163K increase – a $255K
difference. It could be moving from two floors to one is where the savings is?

More interestingly though will be to watch the competitive hiring process for the 3rd
Deputy City Attorney. Curiosity is building to see if the top candidate just HAPPENS to
be a former City Councilwoman…

I guess the only fact of this entire article is that Mayor Dan, his Democratic
Councilpersons, and two Republican Councilpersons, believes that the public doesn’t
know how to add.

Stay strong. Stay involved. Stay together. Seek the truth.

 John Milardo

Guest Blog: The Malloy Connection by John Milardo

 Below is a essay by John Milardo. All opinions expressed are that of the author and not necessarily that of the Insider staff.
The essay in its original format can be downloaded here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/1hG3LNoxp6zqztie5Lkg7dNbpYiubr042XnUFYZ5ufa9WL5WZnKv-K0VVDNtT/edit?usp=sharing
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“And Justice For All” is a newsletter involving my opinions, views, and commentary as a life long Middletown resident. In my capacity as a former employee of Middletown (retired) for over 41 years, I have a different perspective regarding how and why public figures do what they do.

When Daniel Drew lost his first mayoral bid attempt to then republican Mayor Sebastian Giuliano in 2010, the local democrats had enough. Giuliano was a three (3) term republican Mayor in a democratically controlled city, and that had to end. (Quite frankly, in Middletown, any mayor who has more than a couple of terms under their belt is ripe for the picking – anyone being elected as mayor past three (3) terms is pretty amazing.) What could the democrats do to win the mayoral seat back?

The local democrats ran to Governor Dannel Malloy, and asked him for help. He endorsed democratic mayoral candidate Daniel Drew in 2012. The Governor made some personal appearances, and made sure Drew was in the public eye as much as possible – Drew became Mayor. We know Drew spends a lot of time in Hartford rubbing elbows with everyone. Maybe Malloy has bigger and better things planned for him? As like many politicians, I presume the Governor’s motive is power and control over Drew. He’s got Middletown’s mayor on his side for support no matter what the issue may be.

Why would Governor Dannel Malloy bring novice Mayor Daniel Drew with him on a trip to China? What could Drew offer Malloy or the Chinese? Did Drew learn about communism, poor wages and working conditions or forced labor? Did they bring back anything to the citizens of the State of Connecticut that would enhance our technology or manufacturing industries? I haven’t seen anything that the Chinese trip has done for our States economy.

One of the first things Mayor Drew did when elected was to authorize a committee to look into reorganizing and consolidating City of Middletown departments. It is said to be for the purpose of saving money and being more efficient. I can assure you it is for other reasons. Mayor Drew put the committee together and made sure it contained Governor Malloy insiders.

When negotiations began between the City of Middletown and Teamsters Local 671, Mayor Drew hired a law firm that had connections to the Malloy campaign. I can assure you, as I have first hand knowledge, that Mayor Drew is not very labor oriented or friendly.

When Governor Malloy recently informed Connecticut towns that State grants and subsidies were going to be eliminated and/or severely reduced, Mayor Drew said nothing. Other towns and Cities, no matter whether they were democrat or republican Mayors, decried the loss of State funding. Mayor Drew and his democratic council members have been silent. Get ready for July…. “Got Your Tax Bill… Round 2”.

Mayor Drew recently hired a new City Attorney named Brigham Smith, from Lansing Michigan. How could there be a Malloy connection? No way! Mr. Smith wants to be close to his family who moved back to Connecticut, and if you look really, really close … perhaps the former Mrs. Smith has a Stamford connection.

You can’t make this stuff up!

Stay strong. Stay involved. Stay together. Seek the truth.

Yours in Solidarity.
John Milardo