I attended a town hall-style meeting Tuesday at St. Jude’s Church in which Mayor Staffieri was the speaker. He indicated many of the positive things going on in Derby, such as the renovations to the Sterling Opera House, Phase III of the Greenway expansion project and the cleanup of O’Sullivan’s Island.
The feel-good moment prompted Mayor Staffieri to say, “You think we’re doing good in the City of Derby? We’re doing awesome.”
Although those are all great things that help beautify our small city, the mayor failed to justifiably answer many of the questions posed to him by those in the audience. The questions that he failed to answer are ones that are at the heart of the city’s purse strings.
For example, during the most recent election, the Democratic Party continuously questioned the amount of money that was in the Fund Balance. The Democrats could not get an answer from those in City Hall and were subsequently told the figure would not be available until January.
When the Democrats pressed the issue, miraculously, the Republican Party suddenly indicated the Fund Balance was a lofty $4.1 million.
When Dan Foley asked Mayor Staffieri how much was in the Fund Balance today, the mysterious number associated with the Fund Balance was still in question on June 15, 2010, nearly 6 months after it was to be made public. Mayor Staffieri’s response was, “I don’t know, maybe $3 million?”
Another positive from Mayor Staffieri’s forum came when he indicated he hopes to have Derby’s transfer station reopened by the end of the month.
When asked who would operate the transfer station, he said it would be left to the Board of Aldermen to decide.
That said, in November 2009, Aldermanic President Ken Hughes indicated that Annex Associates had agreed to operate the transfer station and would not charge the City of Derby for their services.
Instead, Annex would retain 85% of the proceeds from the operation of the transfer station.
(Hughes’ response is posted in the comment section below)
Annex was subsequently hired after the City of Derby illegally fired two Public Works employees.
Hughes also indicated that Annex paid the City of Derby $24,466.93 for the fiscal year 2008-2009. By simple deduction, if $24,466.93 represents the 15% the City of Derby retained, then the 85% Annex pocketed was $138,645.92.
These figures should make the decision for the Board of Aldermen a rather simple one: put the Public Works in charge of the transfer station and hold them accountable for the day-to-day operations.
This way, Derby can retain 100% of the profits.
When asked about the tax increase, Mayor Staffieri put the blame on the Board of Education by saying, “Taxes went up because the new middle school went online and the Board of Education is asking for more money.”
It was disappointing to hear that answer because he based his campaign on building a new middle school and fully funding the education budget. The right answer isn’t always the easiest or most popular.
Rob Hyder is the 3rd Ward Chairman of the Derby Democratic Town Committee. He lives in Derby with his wife, Tara and their two children. His views do not necessarily represent the Valley Independent Sentinel.
Editor’s note — Derby Alderman Ken Hughes sent the following response to Mr. Hyder’s column:
I typically ignore political rhetoric by the party opposition, but I need to respond to the blatant mistruths stated as fact by Mr. Rob Hyder.
If Mr. Hyder actually took a step back and tried to understand the situation with Annex instead of listening to his party faithful, he would understand the arrangement Annex had with the City.
Prior to Annex being brought onboard, the City never realized any money from certain recyclables, namely wood, paper, cardboard and metal.
The agreement was that Annex would now recycle these materials and would give the City 15% of these additional proceeds, as well as 100% of the proceeds from materials residents had to pay for (demolition material, appliances, etc.), as in years past.
The total amount I was quoted which was given to the City by Annex included all the fees from the transfer station, NOT just the fees from recycling as Mr. Hyder shamelessly leads you to believe.
Rob Hyder should try to consider the fact, that since the new Derby Middle School was voted for, the our nation has fallen into a deep recession, that has affected the the total cost of fully funding the education budget, like in other towns, and cities throughout the state, and country. Mr. Hyder sounds political, when he tries to put the blame on Mayor Tony Staffieri, for the poor status of our economy. Teachers and staff, and school programs, are being cut everywhere, not only in Derby.
Mr. Hughes,
Since you typically ignore “political rhetoric,” yet you chose to respond to my article, I thank you for opening up the dialog for the taxpayers of Derby to follow along on this site. In your response, you accuse me of spreading “blatant mistruths,” however, there is absolutely nothing mistruthful or misleading in my article, whatsoever. In fact, the exact quote from the Connecticut Post from Sunday, November 22 was “Annex agreed not to charge the city for its services and, instead, retained the right to sell the recyclables brought to the landfill, keeping 85 percent of the proceeds. … In the last year, the city received $24,466.93 form the landfill operations, Board of Aldermen President Ken Hughes said.”
Unless my calculator isn’t working correctly, if $24,466.93 represents 15%, then $138,645.92 represents the other 85%. If my calculations are indeed incorrect — and they are not — would you kindly correct them by publicly reporting on this site the amount Annex actually did retain for the fiscal year 2008-2009? I simply asked if Annex can make that much money, why can’t the City of Derby make the money instead?
There was nothing shameful about my article. It was nothing more than calling out the current administration for keeping Derby’s taxpayers in the dark. While your calculating the transfer station figures, why don’t you let the taxpayers of Derby know the exact amount in the Fund Balance? Is it $4.1 million or is it “about $3 million?”
I look forward to your figures and our continued dialog.
Mr. Hughes,
if you could please provide proof that the calculations made in this column are indeed false or if there is any underlying information about the amount of money the transfer station could make if it were back in the hands of the city of derby please let us know. In this terrible economy as this city’s administration keeps blaming for its budget problems, wouldn’t the extra money the transfer station could produce help boost the city’s budget? My math tells me that collecting $138,645.92 is much better then collecting $24,466.93 . Please all we ask for is an explanation of why this is such a terrible idea.
FYI, Ken Hughes responds to Rob Hyder’s comment on the Valley Indy Facebook page . . . http://www.facebook.com/valleyindependentsentinel
(Scroll down, about halfway down the page)
Mr. Hughes,
You still have not acknowledged the figures that Annex received as the operator of the transfer station. Please stop avoiding the question and let the taxpayers of Derby know how much the city can expect to retain if the Department of Public Works runs the transfer station properly. In addition, you still have not indicated the dollar amount in the Fund Balance. Please stop avoiding the question by continually pointing fingers and let the taxpayers of Derby know the following two figures:
1. How much did Annex retain while operating the transfer station?
2. What is the current dollar amount in the city’s Fund Balance?
Well, there you have it, yet another question for the good of the city of Derby avoided by this administration. It is very disappointing and highly unfortunate that the second-highest elected official in Derby continues to dance around a very direct question by redirecting the issue. It is a very telling scenario that he will not allow the taxpayers of Derby know the dollar amount in the city’s Fund Balance or the amount of money Annex retained under his watch. I for one am really looking forward to November 2011.
If Annex could realize $138,645.92, why couldn’t’t the City of Derby do the same thing. Is this recycling method a deep, dark secret that only Annex knows how to do. Seems that Shelton does it, Milford does it, why not Derby? City of Derby constantly throws money away because they do not want to look into how things are done in other towns.