It looks like that time of year again: silly season for Ansonia politics. A time when some people will say anything to get into office.
For Mayor Cassetti’s opponent, that means cooking up a real whopper about the city’s support of our police force. Candidate Tarek Raslan and his team have taken to Facebook with a twisted fantasy piece falsely claiming that the Board of Aldermen caused an increase in crime by cutting the police department budget.
Put aside the thought that politicizing crime statistics in this manner is inherently sleazy. Also brush away the fact that our neighboring communities are also struggling with recent incidents irrespective of their budgets, and that making such a correlation is political opportunism at its worst.
The biggest problem here is that Team Raslan’s grotesque pot shot is simply not true.
Ansonia’s police department budget was passed unanimously this year with bi-partisan support, and that includes a Democratic Alderman. While it represented a decrease from last year’s budget, police personnel was not cut. In fact, the budget was reduced by voluntary recommendations made by Police Chief Kevin Hale himself. This point was actually addressed publicly at the community policing forum held last month on Fourth Street.
To the contrary, the Mayor and Board of Aldermen have made strengthening Ansonia’s police department an absolute priority, moving ahead with plans to bring a new police station into the heart of downtown Ansonia. The truth is abundantly clear to residents who have been following the news.
Of course, I don’t doubt that Mr. Raslan and company are sincere about spending more taxpayer money. As he told the aldermen and residents at a public budget hearing on May 24, 2016, he is “not worried about any additional taxes as an investor” and “would be happy to pay more taxes, and I think that is something I would support.” (See page 19 of the public hearing transcript).
Yet while Team Raslan will “say anything” this fall to get elected, there’s a slim chance they will say just how high of a tax increase Ansonia will see if they prevail.
The writer is an Alderman who represents Ansonia’s Second Ward.
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