City Balance Sheet Dilemma! Blake Proves Worse Than Richetelli

FACTS DO NOT LIE! Milford Republicans prove themselves as less irresponsible than Milford Democrats. The Graph below demonstrates that when it comes to eroding the city balance Sheet, Mayor Ben Blake has topped all previous records held by the previous kleptocrat Jim Richetelli. The city is not yet bankrupt because we still have more assets than liabilities, but we are well on our way with Blake "the snake." I predicted some years ago that under the present trends the city would be in big trouble around 2014 at the latest, because that is when (under the present trends) Milford would have depleted its entire asset base. Every good accountant will tell you that when you have more Liabilities than assets you have a negative net worth or in other words you are bankrupt. This makes borrowing more difficult and creditors grow concerned about a responsible plan whereby the city can balance not only its budget but its books. This often results in a massive spike in property taxes, credit downgrades and a decline in services. The future of Milford looks bleak with this administration we may want to think about a change come next election. 

To see the graph click the link:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/roccofrank.milfordindependents

Milford Daily Blog Welcomes New School Super Dr. Feser

While the local papers are just now reporting on our new Superintendent below is a small snapshot from the Windsor school district on her views.

Note From Dr. Feser, (in her own words)

"Welcome to the Windsor Public Schools! We are a school system that takes pride in its students and its staff. We seek continuously to strengthen the education that we offer our students desiring to prepare them to be intellectually inquisitive and ethical citizens who appreciate the richness of diverse cultures while embracing democratic principles.

For our students to be successful beyond graduation we recognize that the education we offer to our students must meet the needs of all students, and, therefore, we seek to provide programs that challenge students across the continuum of ability and talent. Increasing student performance remains our primary goal and our work toward this end is ongoing.

Our relationships between and among our Board of Education, the faculty and administration, and parents are critical, and we work hard to cultivate and strengthen these relationships. We are blessed to be a part of a supportive community, one that is rich in history and greatly values education.

The website before you aims to provide you with detailed and updated information about the Windsor Public Schools, its program, resources and services. Take time to explore the site and learn who we are and what we offer. "

Elizabeth Feser, Ed.D.

The selection is not "official" but likely Ms. Feser is the choice.

Independents Set To Cross Endorse Sen. Slossberg

Last month at the annual caucus of the Independent Town Committee Independents selected candidates for public office. When it came to the state Senate race a vote was held to cross endorse Gail Slossberg.

Gail was considered for endorsement because of several reasons, but one of the most important was her work in keeping the Citizens Election Program viable in years past and presently where she is still working to keep it functional.

In speaking with her on the phone today, Gail was optimistic that the CEP will have a positive resolution and is hopeful minor parties like the Milford Independent Party will be afforded future opportunities to secure state funding.

We also discussed having the state of Connecticut assist in school funding to combine the two city high schools into one economically viable green building. This issue she said "is clearly up to the people of Milford and the Board of Education." She will "support the Board of education and the people of Milford if that is their wish" but warned state assistance for school construction dollars are a long way off.

We also spoke about the current health care bill, and asked her if she as a "Non practicing" Attorney thought the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution was being violated. Her answer was that she has "No Idea" what is in this bill, that at this point in time "No one knows" what is in the bill but she is being "Open Minded" and that she will respect the wishes of the people in her district should they demand the state reject it.

Slossberg indicated "that if the people of Connecticut or Milford, have their Constitutional liberties taken away by Obamacare I will certainly oppose it. However, we cannot pass judgement on this bill and its Unconstitutional aspects before the courts have had their opportunity to review it and make a legal determination as whether or not it violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution." Gayle said that as it stands it is too soon to tell how it is going to affect us, but in either case she does "not engage in speculation but rather likes to keep to her reputation of only addressing facts and real issues."

Gail will be confirmed for the ballot line this Wednesday March 31st. at the Milford Independent Town Committee Meeting. The meeting location will be announced at this blog within the next few days so check back. The general public is welcome to attend and thereby express their support or objections to the endorsement of Sen. Slossberg for the Independent Party Line..

Teacher Layoffs Loom Again

Every year, the school budget is put under review, this year is no different than any other year. The Milford Board of education, already mired in difficulty is awaiting a resolution on this years budgetary issues.

The issues regarding education have often been blamed on the city charter, and union protagonists in the School system. Talk by some Board of Ed members has already taken place to re-open the city charter to address these problems.

However, critics of this action warn that re-opening the Charter will result in more changes than just those intended to be specifically addressed.

The issue this year has to do with teacher layoffs, due to the cities inability to close a growing multimillion dollar gap. This issue over educational funding has happened before, and last round of negotiations resulted in alarm that 180 teachers would be fired.

The result was a happy one last year, no teachers were let go, especially after the "Education Outrage Machine" went into full spin. For those who do not remember, kids were circulating petitions with thousands of signatures on them, and the Board of Ed meetings were packed with standing room only protesters.

The final result was a mild culling of the school system, marking the loss of several Administrative positions, and cutbacks to school services including landscaping and energy efficiency savings.

This year the picture is more daunting, because aside from the multi-million dollar shortfall, our schools are in disrepair and need costly improvements that are approaching almost the entire annual school budget of 80 plus million.

These issues are being addressed as part of a triage system at the moment, a system determined by the school engineers who have been making emergency repair requests. However not all are happy with this approach especially after the Milford PTA got fed up with our kids learning in janitors closets, and doing their science work on carts instead of labs.

The problem was partially fixed last fall when the Democratically controlled Board of Alderman defied the Wishes of Mayor Richetelli (including the defection of Republican Alderman Ray Vitale) and succeeded in defeating the Mayors agenda.

The problems this year are the same, Special Education funding is still of grave concern, and a steady stream of complaints and lawsuits regarding Special Ed. are plaguing our school system. The Bureaucracy, and state legislature still have no idea on how to best address these concerns and continue to impose ineffective unfunded mandates that the city must pay each year.

The state Constitution requires that all children from Kindergarten to Grade 12 be educated FOR FREE, and if cities cannot meet that obligation due to the physical or psychological condition of a child, parents have a legal right to sue the city. These lawsuits force Milford's taxpayers (in many cases) to pay $50,000.00 to $150,000.00 a year to a parent whose child had to be educated in a private school.

Part of the issue with Special Education also appears to be the towns open door policy. The law also prohibits the School district from refusing children, like those at The Boys and Girls Club on Wheelers farm Road the services they need including custom transportation.

When the city of Milford addresses these issues too well, we risk becoming a Magnet city. Parents of special needs children will often relocate to towns, with the best services to educate their kids. The result of doing a good job can inadvertently become a moral hazard.

This hazard is often on the backs of lower income people who already lose their homes in town at a rate of two to three a week. The loss is often due to foreclosure, these happen when property taxes are too high, the economy is weak, and our local elected leaders fail to find solutions that satisfy the issues of property owners.

Some cities like Westport allow for people over 70 to stop paying their property tax all together. But the catch is to collect it from the estate of which the city is the First Lien Holder. Most cities including ours already have a program in place to grant tax relief to Veterans and the Elderly, but the cost of education and the dwindling state and Federal Resources are forcing towns into a process called Binding Arbitration.

This Arbitration is often a last ditch attempt, whereby arbitrators in Hartford settle monetary disputes between city unions, taxpayers, and school boards. Since most people do not understand that Arbitrators have the right to override decisions by school boards, a frustrated public retaliates with their votes in municipal elections.

The people who are voted out of office are usually completely powerless and never had any meaningful authority over a contractual monetary dispute in the first place. Regardless, this has somewhat managed to trivialize the ability of the Milford School board to respond to any financial settlement outside a drastic, or perhaps worse catastrophic financial event.

In order for there to ever be any resolution on education, budgets or negotiations, all parties must agree to accept the money that reasonably could be paid and derived from taxes and grants. The most irresponsible actions any union or board could ever take, is to litigate a situation to the point where it forces our city to continue toward a path of financial indebtedness, or worse, default on its current obligations.

The solutions to these problems rests soley in the hands of those people who created them. The caveat (to quote Einstein), however, "is that the same level of thinking that got us into this crisis cannot be used to resolve it."

Polanski Displeased With Milford Kids CAPT Test Scores

Superintendent of Schools Harvey B. Polansky says he is “displeased” with the scores city high school students achieved on the Connecticut Aptitude Performance Test.

That displeasure will manifest itself in a road show of sorts as select school officials travel to high schools across the state to see what those districts are doing to ensure good test results, Polansky said.

“I want to see what the best high schools are doing,” Polansky said. “I am displeased with the high school results (here).”

At Monday’s school board meeting, there was a somber mood as officials pored through CAPT results, which have been on a downward trend since 2007. Milford ranks near or at the bottom in several categories when compared to communities of similar size. School officials were a little more upbeat over the Connecticut Mastery Test scores. The CMTs are administered to students in third through eighth grade.

For the CAPTs, in Milford’s District Reference Group, the 450 tenth-grade students who took the test ranked second to last when compared to 25 other similar communities in math, fourth from the bottom in science, and second to last in reading and writing.

“As you can see, there has been a decline in Milford test scores this year,” said Michael Cummings, who is assistant superintendent of schools for curriculum and instruction. “We’re especially concerned about writing, which has been Milford’s strong point.”

School board member Tracy Casey, D-2, noted this year’s scores are lower in every category except science. Cummings said staff has done an “excellent job” realigning that curriculum. But, he said, since 2007 the science numbers have still dipped.

“Taking a look at this, I’m sure you are not impressed,” Majority Leader Greta Stanford, D-1, said to administrators. “What is administration’s plan to remediate this?”

Cummings said the administration is “not impressed,” and plans to study the numbers in depth. He said the administration will study who has been teaching ninth- and tenth-graders. He also said students may need more time to take the test.

School board candidate and parent Jack Fowler, R-1, said he has researched the test scores, and what is equally disturbing is that, of the communities in its reference group, Milford has the third highest per-pupil expenditure, at $12,354.

“We spent more, the kids got less, and the taxpayers have the privilege of footing the bill for this travesty,” Fowler said. “We are paying for champagne but getting dishwater.”

Cummings said the number of students scoring at below basic and basic levels is climbing, and the reading scores are of “great concern.”

Board member James Santa Barbara, D-5, questioned whether the district is losing some of its more talented younger students to private schools as Milford continues its trend of doing “reasonably well” on the CMTs, while not as well on the CAPT.

ORIGINAL BRIAN MCREADY POST

Milford School Suspensions Decline To 16

Officials say the good news is that the number of city students being expelled from school dropped significantly, from 27 in 2007-08 to 16 during the most recent school year.

But the bad news is that the cases involving the expulsions “were more involved,” said Superintendent of Schools Harvey B. Polansky.

Five Joseph A. Foran High School students, one from Jonathan Law High School, and six Alternative Education High students were expelled for inappropriate behavior, officials said. Additionally, one Harborside Middle School student and two from West Shore Middle School were expelled, according to a report produced by school administrators. The annual expulsion report is mandated by the state.

The report details that a 17-year-old Foran student was expelled for one year last July for inappropriate sexual behavior in school; an Alternative Education student, also 17, was expelled in February for possession of marijuana, drug paraphernalia and a weapon on school grounds, and an 18-year-old Law student was expelled in May for threatening via the Internet to shoot up the school.

Also, the report says, on June 10, two Foran students were expelled: one for one semester for igniting fireworks in the school, causing the building to be evacuated, and another for a school year for inappropriate and threatening text messaging.

Other students were expelled for threatening staff members, possession of marijuana at school, stealing and possession of stolen property, bullying and threatening, and threats made to students, the report says.

“The value of the expulsion report is it gives us knowledge of what the teachers and administrators have to face in the building,” said Board of Education Chairman David Hourigan, D-4. “It gives us a perspective as to what goes on during the day.”

Hourigan said it’s interesting that the total number of expulsion cases has declined since last year. He said the state has amended the expulsion law, which makes it more likely students will be expelled.

The law previously allowed administrators to suspend students five times, for up to 10 days or a total of 50 days, before expulsion, but now students can only be suspended for 10 days before they have to be expelled.

As for the severity of the cases, Hourigan said, unfortunately “these things happen year after year.”

“Our hope is the number of incidents decreases as the kids get wiser,” Hourigan added.

ORIGINAL STORY BY BRIAN MCREADY

Milfords New Mill Rate Decreased To 28.23

Milford's Mil Rate was once 34.36 according to a 2005 George J. Smith assessment today that number has decreased to the above mentioned 28.23 Mill Rate. This figure is listed at the town website tax assessors link proving that conditions now exist that are pressuring the number downward.

Some have clamored that this is merely an election year ploy to make the incumbent leadership look good, while others believe that the 2005 assessments are not indicative of the true value of properties today. But to set the speculation and conjecture aside what is really going on is the Mill Rate is merely leveling out. While most experts could debate the actual growth of the grand list, one thing we all agree on is that mill rates decrease with increases in property values. This is why Connecticut's wealthiest towns like Greenwich, Darien, and Westport have recognizably low Mil Rates. (In most cases these are in the single digits.)

Milford's affluence appears to have grown, but not happily because with that image or "illusion" comes the unwelcome decrease in state funding to our schools creating the sore topic of an unfair cost sharing formula, but the good news is that average homeowners will be paying a little less taxes this coming year an average of 2.5% less.

Put down the champagne, because this is a Pyrrhic victory. The 2005 re-evaluation was done at the peak of the market only to be followed by a three year bust in real-estate that caused prices to stagnate and in some cases decline. Most residents on or near the water saw staggering 50%-100% property tax increases virtually overnight at the higher mil-rate, now perhaps the give back will render some desperately needed relief.

This decrease is very welcome but only because we have been taxed so excessively hard in the last couple of years due to the false reality of an inflated "bubble" real estate market. In my opinion this decrease falls short and is still slightly out of balance with true and accurate home values. By my personal calculations the mill rate should have been at 26.5. and not 28.23. (Estimate derived from chart above.)

Heat Wave Bakes Milford

Today and yesterday were bad days to try and discredit global warming. The temperature here in town soared to a record 98 Degrees and our towns kids were dripping in sweat as they sat in classrooms without air conditioning.

Our staff contacted the school superintendent and expressed concern over the extreme heat, especially after several schools either let their students out early or just took the day off all together.

Milford's Superintendent, Polanski said he spent a good part of his day walking around asking teachers and students how they were coping with the extreme heat. He gave an encouraging report, indicating that the kids and teachers were doing well.

This, however was not what some of the local kids said to me at the bus stop this morning. The consensus was that only two classrooms they were aware of had air conditioning, and they said that during their final exams they found the heat a to be a major distraction to their testing.

When I mentioned that I called their Superintendent to express their concern, one student sarcastically replied, "easy for him to say that, his office is one of the few that has air conditioning."

Parents expressed concern over the fact that the schools were even open at all during this excessively hot day, some did not understand why the school could not afford air conditioning in such extreme weather; at the very least it should be turned on in the event of an emergency.

The high cost of energy, combined with crippling property tax increases, declining ED funding and forced cutbacks to save our teachers jobs, in my opinion is what has led to this bad situation. Some time ago I wrote a blog stating that just this would happen if the city and state did not initiate a conservation program, and begin to install solar panels and budget friendly technologies in our city buildings.

A energy conservation expert at TriCity said that if the city abandoned its current technology in favor of geothermal heat pumps alone, this would cut the cities energy consumption by nearly 1/3 shortly after it get turned on. The problem is not recognizing the merit of this technology, it is getting the city to come up with money to begin installing it. If they do not do it now, then over the next decade they will have paid for it just through the current inefficient system.