At the July 25th Ansonia Charter Revision Commission meeting, members voted on a proposal to give the City citizens the right to vote on any budget increase exceeding 1.5%.
The proposal was defeated because the vote was tied. Four members voted YES, four members voted NO, and one member was absent. To pass, there has to be a majority, so a tie is the same as a defeat.
YES VOTE:
Janet Waugh, Republican
Pat Henri, Republican
John Marini, Republican
Lorie Vaccaro, Republican
NO VOTE:
Kay Jeanette, Democrat
Chris Lisi, Democrat
Beth Lynch, Democrat
Bill Luneski, Independent
ABSENT:
David Knapp, Democrat
This vote is the only progress to date on the three items that I requested the Charter Revision Commission raise:
1. Budget increases of more than 1.5% to be voted on by the citizens of the City of Ansonia
2. If item one isn’t passed, final approval of the annual City Budget changed from the Board of Appropriation and Taxation (BOAT) to the Board of Aldermen.
3. Term limits for Board of Aldermen members: 3 consecutive terms. Individuals would be able to run again after one, 2-year break.
I believe that it is critical for the citizens of Ansonia to have a say on the budget that they fund – either through a direct vote on increases or by giving their elected Aldermen final budget approval.
As it stands now, the appointed, unelected officials on BOAT are not accountable to the citizens of Ansonia. As it stands now, BOAT can override, as they did this year, the Board of Aldermen’s proposed budget. As it stands now, BOAT doesn’t even publish meeting minutes.
Ansonia’s homes lose value and taxes go up. Ansonia’s grand list shrinks and taxes go up. Ansonia’s city services deteriorate and taxes go up.
It is my hope that on August 13th at 6 PM at City Hall that the citizens of Ansonia who have been asked to fund an unsustainable budget show up for the Charter Revision public hearing and voice their disdain for the current process.
It is time to stand up and speak out. We, the residents of Ansonia must live within our means and so must our government. Please support me in this effort.
Yours truly,
Alderman Charles Stowe
The writer is a Republican representing Ansonia’s Second Ward on the Board of Aldermen. He is running for election in the city’s First Ward.
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Alderman Stow, with all due respect, you need to get your facts straight. If you took the time to read the commission’s minutes, you would have found that during the Special Meeting of the Charter Revision Commission, that met on July 11th 2013, several very important items were discussed and voted off the draft list. Not because the commission didn’t want to pursue them, but that there simply was not enough time to do it right.
This included the concept of a city manager form of government, the Alderman having the final vote on the budget, a referendum vote for budget increases, Term limits, and others. The charter is our city’s set of laws. It’s incorrect alteration can have far reaching ramifications. The vote of the regular meeting of July 25 that you quoted, was a motion that Commissioner Henri made to bring back the referendum vote for budget increases. It was voted down for a SECOND time due to the constraints in time to develop it properly. As a commission, we have discussed having our work passed on to continue the positive work we have started. I am a home and business owner in Ansonia. I too have been negatively impacted by the budget increases. But asking citizens to voice their frustrations at a commission that has no impact on that budget, is wrong. Instead, get current on what has been discussed in our commission meetings, and you will find we have a non-partisan group that was working towards positive change. We just don’t have enough time to address it all. With your help, we can bring it to the next commission, and make some more positive change. Respectfully, William Luneski – (Unaffiliated – not Independent)
Thank you, Bill, for so eloquently stating our mutual opinion on the outcome of the work done by the Charter Revision Commission. Many of Mr. Stowe’s comments are incorrect and completely distort what took place. I find it interesting that he can state what went on at the meeting when he was not in attendance. Did he verify the facts he is writing about? Obviously not. As you noted the commission was unanimous in its opinion that several of the proposals need to be addressed further and we also agreed that we would like to be a part of that ongoing process. No one was against addressing any proposal discussed. As commissioners I feel that we acted in the best interests of the citizens of Ansonia by not rushing to a decision without having all of the information necessary to make such a critical change to the current practices employed by our city. Thank you to those who volunteered their time and talents.
This message was sent to us on Facebook from Beth Lynch, a member of the Charter Revision Commission and a candidate for Ansonia Town Clerk. We’re posting it for her because our site prevented her from doing so:
“Thank you, Bill, for so eloquently stating our mutual opinion on the outcome of the work done by the Charter Revision Commission.
Many of Mr. Stowe’s comments are incorrect and totally distort what took place.
I find it interesting that he can state what went on at the meeting when he was not in attendance.
Did he verify the facts he is writing about? Obviously not.
As you noted the commission was unanimous in its opinion that several of the proposals need to be addressed further and we also agreed that we would like to be a part of that ongoing process.
No one was against addressing any proposal discussed. As commissioners I feel that we acted in the best interests of the citizens of Ansonia by not rushing to a decision without having all of the information necessary to make such a critical change to the current practices employed by our city.
Thank you to those who volunteered their time and talents.”
FYI — ignore my post.
Posted by Charles Stowe:
With the City of Ansonia’s shrinking grand list, rising mill rate, devaluation in property values, and this year’s tax increase, it is unfair to expect the citizens of Ansonia to wait indefinitely for a budget process in which they have a voice.
The Charter Revision Commission should look into making the BOAT members elected and not appointed by the Mayor. This is the system used in Derby. If this were the case, then the Aldermen could have less of a role in the budget process, thus freeing them to spend more time on legislative issues.