Debate Recap – 4/22/2009

Posted by Bob on April 22, 2009 under Daily Blogs | Read the First Comment

Two of the three scheduled mayoral debates took place this week.  The Naugatuck Chamber of Commerce held its annual debate Monday afternoon, and the Parent School Council held two separate forums for Board of Education candidates and the mayoral candidates on Tuesday night.

Throughout the two-plus centuries of our democracy, debates still remain the most fundamental way that voters can learn about the qualifications, records and plans of candidates running for public office.  A third debate will be held on Monday, April 27, 2009, 7:00 PM, at Naugatuck High School, co-sponsored by the Waterbury Republican-American and Citizens News.

I applaud Mayor Bronko for honoring our pledge to make this campaign about our credentials and the issues facing the Borough.  While we both passionately disagree on many issues, personal attacks and petty politics are absent from our debates and our respective campaigns.

One of our most heated discussions on Tuesday night involved my plan for structural reform of our local government.  My opponent claimed that my only plan was to replicate an allegedly sixty thousand dollar study done by the Town of Darien in 1996.

For the record, I have never pledged any dollar amount to reforming our government and have no intention of replicating a thirteen year old study by an affluent town in Fairfield County.  I do recommend professional assistance if we are unable to solve our government’s structural flaws on our own, but how such an analysis takes shape will require input from many individuals inside and outside of our government.  One of my first acts if elected mayor would be to convene a Government Reform Council comprised of individuals from all cross-sections of our community.  Together, we will decide on the best course of action on how to address the inefficiency and bloat that has existed in our government for years.

This isn’t the first time I have been criticized for discussing a “study”.  Six years ago during the mayoral campaign I advocated that Naugatuck would benefit from an analysis of our government  similar to the Mt. Auburn Associates study that resulted in structural changes to our economic development system and the creation of the Naugatuck Economic Development Corporation.  My opponent at the time said the same thing that Mayor Bronko did Tuesday night – basically that we do not need any outside analysis of what is wrong with our government and that the mayor can fix everything on his or her own.  This makes for great political rhetoric, but history tells us and has proven otherwise.

Six years later we have experienced six straight tax increases.  Departments still operate like individual companies, failing to use the collective purchasing power of a ONE HUNDRED THREE MILLION DOLLAR corporation that is the Borough of Naugatuck.  Relations between unions and management are at an all time low as contracts have been negotiated in the newspaper rather than at the bargaining table, at the expense of the taxpayer.  Infrastructure continues to decay as basic maintenance is defrayed to future years because there is no money.  Burgesses and residents alike feel that they are not being involved in the process and that the administration does not collaborate on important issues and seek consensus.

One important item that the Mayor conveniently ignores is that the economic development successes for which he claims credit on campaign literature are a direct result of the Mt. Auburn Associates “study” that I fought to undertake as a Burgess ten years ago.  For years Naugatuck waited for a “plan” to address the loss of business and decreased tax revenue.  While there was much talk, little action and an immense amount of politics, our previous ways were weak on results.

Identifying the problem and seeing the need for a solution, I worked to create a bi-partisan coalition of individuals from the public, private and non-profit sectors to change the way Naugatuck did business.  Mt. Auburn Associates from Massachusetts was selected to conduct a comprehensive review of our economic development efforts, and produced a detailed and intelligent document recommending change.  The study cost approximately thirty five thousand dollars, and was paid for by a state grant.

Unlike most “studies” undertaken by the Borough, the Mt. Auburn report did not sit on a shelf in Town Hall.  We acted on recommendations made in the document, the most significant of which resulted in the creation of the Naugatuck Economic Development Corporation (NEDC).  The NEDC gave Naugatuck for the first time the capacity to respond to our business community, attract new businesses to the Borough, and address the structural changes required to make Naugatuck a more business friendly community.  Without the NEDC, Naugatuck would never have been in a position to entertain the thought of implementing a project the size and complexity of Renaissance Place.

Since its creation, the NEDC has worked with numerous companies to expand their businesses, relocate to Naugatuck and purchase previously unsold lots in our industrial park.  It also is the lead agency in charge of overseeing and implementing Renaissance Place.  Hundreds of thousands of tax dollars have been generated by businesses who have worked with the NEDC.  The original Mt. Auburn Associates “study”, which did not cost local taxpayers a dime, has paid for itself numerous times over in the form of business tax revenue throughout the years since its formation.  In business terms, the return on investment was significant.

I would love to believe that we can structurally reform our local government in this manner without the assistance of qualified professionals skilled in devising strategies to make government operate more like a business.  We certainly should involve all stakeholders and discuss this matter thoroughly.  What I can say for sure, however, is that any professional assistance which we may require will be a fraction of the cost of the current administration’s plan.  This is because, quite frankly, there is not and has never been a plan to make our local government operate more efficiently, and this has already cost taxpayers dearly over recent years and will cost even more in the future.

This year the Mayor has eagerly passed a pre-election, zero-based budget without firm knowledge of state aid and wage concessions from three of the four largest unions in the Borough.  Naugatuck desperately needs a no tax increase budget after last years large tax increase, but one has to wonder why this year’s budget was passed so early and contains many assumptions and expectations that could damage the Borough’s financial health if they do not come to fruition.  We all can only hope for the best that the state does not decide to cut aid to the Borough and that we are able to manage costs not budgeted and contracts not negotiated.  Had we done the proper due diligence, it may have been possible to even reduce taxes this year.  The administration’s eagerness to quickly pass a budget prior to the election provides no return on investment from a financial perspective, only a political one.  This is bad business.

If we are able to manage this budget, the administration has compromised future budgets and financial sustainability.  To obtain the one major union concession with the police department, the Borough will pay a wage increase of six (6%) percent two years from now, and provide officers with a dramatic increase in private duty rates, which will undoubtedly be passed on to taxpayers in one way or another.  This concession was reached the Friday before the Republican primary, with the newspaper the first call after the ink was dried.

I recognize that the Mayor is in a difficult spot and that there are no easy answers to solve our problems.  I understand that obtaining short-term headlines at the expense of long-term financial success is tempting during an election year.  Naugatuck taxpayers, however, deserve better.  We deserve leadership that brings people together to achieve long-lasting financial health for our community.  We deserve to know all the options available to reform our government rather than rhetoric trying to convince us that the mayor has all the answers to solve our economic woes.  We deserve an administration that values information, can identify problems, discover solutions, build coalitions and works to enact real change within our government.

On Monday, May 4, 2009, voters will have the opportunity to get the government they deserve.